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Zimbabwe indigenisation conference needed
Zimbabwe Unemployed People's Association (ZUPA)
March 09, 2012

If Zimbabwe's empowerment programme is to have holistic support, the voice of the investors who are being asked to craft proposals and programmes of compliance under pressure must be allowed space.

Due to our interest as ZUPA in the success of the programme that should empower ordinary Zimbabweans but retaining the support of the investors and business, we now ask the Government of Zimbabwe, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and all indicated Chambers to urgently consider an all stakeholders' conference where investors, foreign owned corporations and mining companies should be invited to discuss the programme.

ZUPA has for, sometime, emphasised that the investors we have had the opportunity to interact with have said in principle, they are not opposed to the empowerment of ordinary Zimbabweans. All they need is clear and consistent information so that they can make their decision and advise their shareholders.

That is why ZUPA suggested that the Ministry responsible for the empowerment programme to set up a one stop information hub for Zimbabweans and investors to get access to unambiguous information.

It appears to us from the grassroots that the ongoing pendulum between some mining companies and the Government of Zimbabwe on the former's empowerment proposals and the latter considering most of them insincere and inadequate may after all jus be a issue of not reading the same text with the same meaning.

A conference on indigenisation and empowerment in Zimbabwe where all stakeholders are invited could be an opportunities for all the foreign owned companies to seek universal clarification from the Government on what they are expected to do and why. For the Government, it would be an opportunity for all parties in the GNU to demonstrate to the world that they are united and sing from the same hymn sheet.

ZUPA is currently engaging chiefs and Local Government on the establishment of community trusts in order for ordinary Zimbabweans to access the 10 percent shares as agreed by Government. We believe the scheme could take millions of Zimbabweans out of poverty and secure their future.

We hope the conference could be called urgently and as ZUPA, would be prepared to organise such a conference if the Government commits.

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