Minister threatens to resign

  1. Posted on Wednesday 15 April 2009 - 10:04
    bruce
    Bruce Sibanda, AfricaNews reporter in Harare, Zimbabwe
    Zimbabwe's ICT Minister Nelson Chamisa threatened to resign from the fragile inclusive government if President Mugabe does not reverse his decision to take some department from his ministry. "I would not hesitate to resign if Mugabe does not reverse his unilateral move to strip me of some departments."
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    Mugabe stripped Chamisa of key functions of his ministry and gave them to a ministry controlled by one of his Zanu PF loyalists.

    According to the state controlled Herald newspaper the chief secretary to the cabinet, Micheck Sibanda, sent letters to Chamisa and the Information and Publicity Minister, Webster Shamu, outlining the functions of their two ministries after they both contested to bring the posts and telecommunications sector under their ambits.

    In the end, the sector was brought under the control of an expanded Transport and Infrastructure Development Ministry under Nicholas Goche, a senior member of Mugabe’s party.

    That ministry now becomes the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development – in charge of regulating telephone operators and Zimbabwe’s postal service.

    Both Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime minister Mutambara have indicated that they would confront Mugabe in cabinet over the unpopular move.

    But it is understood that Zanu PF is keen to reclaim control of the telecommunications sector because an MDC minister is a threat to illegal phone tapping operations.

    One official is quoted as saying: “It’s the issue of eves-dropping and the fact that telecom is clearly a security matter. So it’s all to do with Chamisa’s character and personality. Zanu PF has been so desperate to take that sector back under its control that they first wanted to give it to Shamu’s ministry before losing the argument, and now this!”

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