(Last Updated on August 27, 2012 by Editor)
KWEKWE — Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe has accused greedy politicians of plundering the country’s mineral resources for their personal enrichment while government fails to deliver basic services due to non-availability of funds.
Addressing members of the Kwekwe Lions Club during their golden jubilee celebrations on Saturday, Khupe described corruption, greed and selfishness as cancerous epidemics which had eroded the country’s moral fibre.
“Africa needs a lot of support to take her out of a position of having a begging bowl. Much as we might want to blame our past domination for our current problems, as Africans surely some of the challenges we face today have nothing to do with our past. Issues such as corruption, greed and selfishness which have eroded our moral fibre cannot be traced to our history,” she said.
“We are richly endowed with natural resources, including mineral wealth like the diamonds in Chiadzwa. Unfortunately that has not translated into riches for our nation, save for a minority few.”
In apparent reference to Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere’s controversial economic empowerment policy, Khupe, who is also MDC-T vice-president, vowed to continue fighting bad policies.
“Good public policy is critical, we don’t want economic policies that take wealth from the minority white and give minority black. We say no to policy reforms which make us poorer,” she said.
The MDC-T has contested Kasukuwere’s indigenisation policy, saying it had benefited Zanu PF bigwigs at the expense of ordinary Zimbabweans.
The Kwekwe Lions Club celebrations were attended by Midlands provincial governor Jason Machaya and club members drawn from Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. NewsDay