Mnangagwa accused PAC members of being alarmists after the group gave him an appraisal of the dire economic conditions." Mawarire added. "PAC members were shocked by his reaction and are convinced he doesn't appreciate hardships faced by people or he doesn't care."
Mnangagwa boosts NRZ deal.President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday said there was no conflict between him and his Transport minister Joel Biggie Matiza on the US$400 million deal to modernise the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).adding the Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG) investors must be allowed to demonstrate their financial capacity to execute the project.This came after Matiza told the media that government had decided to cancel the NRZ-DIDG deal after the South Africa-based consortium had reportedly failed to raise the requisite finances.
The minister said the government would open fresh bids.The Zimbabwe Independent had reported that Mnangagwa is on a collision course with Transport minister Joel Biggie Matiza over the US$400 million National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) recapitalisation project, as it reaches critical stages ahead of full-swing implementation.While Mnangagwa has thrown his weight behind the project which he commissioned in February 2018, Matiza has been throwing spanners in the works as he pushes for a Dubai based firm,
Feonirich Investments LLC, to come in through the back door.Sources said the fight over the deal is expected to intensify today as Matiza has called for an emergency NRZ board meeting at 10am today in Harare to pressure the directors and management to reserve their recent resolutions and implementation roadmap.The meeting will be also attended by the transaction and legal advisers, Deloitte & Touche and Dube, Manikai & Hwacha (DMH) law firm respectively, as well as the NRZ management, the sources said.The transaction and legal advisers are seen as the minister's allies.
This emerges against a backdrop of raging fierce clashes between NRZ chairman Martin Dinha, a lawyer, and Matiza on the funding and the implementation of the project."Letters have been flying back and forth between Matiza and Dinha of late and this has reached a crisis point.After the NRZ board recently passed funding and implementation resolutions following the Afrexim funding proposal, Matiza has been trying to get the broad to meet to reverse those resolutions, claiming he had not been briefed," a senior government official said."So at a meeting will be held today at 10am to deal with the matter.
The issue is the minister seems to have a vested interest and prefers a different consortium from the one involving DIDG and its partners.We have repeatedly heard that Feonirich is in the background and the minister has not denied those reports.The President supports the project, but his minister is undermining him. How is that possible? Something must be done decisively to realign the process to allow full implementation given that Africa Import-Export Bank (Afrexim) has provided the money.".The NRZ board, deputised by Major-General Hlanganani Dube, is expected to escalate resistance to Matiza's coercion and pressure in today's do-or-die meeting.Afrexim has been appointed the mandated lead arranger of the multi-million dollar transaction, with the primary responsibility of mobilising funding from a number of banks which have shown interest in the deal.Under the arrangement, the continental bank will inject US$100 million into the project widely seen as Mnangagwa's showcase of parastatal reform and economic recovery.
This emerges against a backdrop of raging fierce clashes between NRZ chairman Martin Dinha, a lawyer, and Matiza on the funding and the implementation of the project."Letters have been flying back and forth between Matiza and Dinha of late and this has reached a crisis point.After the NRZ board recently passed funding and implementation resolutions following the Afrexim funding proposal, Matiza has been trying to get the broad to meet to reverse those resolutions, claiming he had not been briefed," a senior government official said."So at a meeting will be held today at 10am to deal with the matter.
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