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Mr Chamu Chiwanza

The Affirmative Action Group (AAG) yesterday accused some boards of State enterprises of frustrating the indigenisation drive and urged the Government to fire them for failing to effectively deliver on their mandate.

AAG president Mr Chamu Chiwanza told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment that the State Procurement Board (SPB), the Rent Board and the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB) should be relieved of their duties.

“The Tender Board is working to empower a few, there are now entrepreneurs in the country,” he told the committee which Gokwe-Nembudziya legislator Justice Mayor Wadyajena chairs.

“We have cartels in this country which are benefiting at the expense of legitimate business people.”

Mr Chiwanza accused the Tender Board of corruption saying that tenders for a number of institutions such as power utility Zesa Holdings, were always awarded to the same people.

He said NIIEB, whose role was to facilitate implementation of the indigenisation laws, had also not been effective in the delivery of its mandate.

Instances of dubiously awarded indigenisation compliance certificates and allowing foreigners to take part in reserved sector were some of its major failures, he said.

“Can the NIEEB chief executive officer (Wilson) Gwatiringa and the board be fired,” he told the committee.

Mr Chiwanza said some foreign nationals primarily Chinese were operating in contravention of the indigenisation laws when they are awarded tenders.

“The Chinese bring in everything including door frames when they are given contracts. Is the indigenisation law really still in place,” he queried.

The country’s empowerment laws require that foreign companies sell a fraction of their goods from local companies.

Mr Chiwanza said the Rent Board was a mere lapdog as it was watching while local business people were charged exorbitant rentals.

“We have a Rent Board that we do not know what it is doing, we do not know what its role is,” the AAG leader said.

He said local businesses were not only charged excessive rentals and deposits but were also being made to pay “goodwill fees” which were not refundable when renting out space to do business.

Meanwhile, Mr Chiwanza said Government must put in place measures to ensure inclusivity in implementation of indigenisation deals to ensure all Zimbabweans and not just the elite benefited.

“It seems to be an urban talk and even in the urban areas there is no streamlining to the grassroots people,” he said. — New Ziana.