Savious Kasuwukere indigenisation Minister

Indigenization a political weapon

Indigenization process has been thrashed by various foreign investors. In the general sense, indigenisation is not meant to deprive someone. Its core role is to bring about balance through empowering the locals and presenting the opportunities regardless of political affiliation, race, tribe and gender.

Morgan Tsvangirai has also lambasted the indigenisation scheme (Daily News 03/03/2012) claiming that the local investors do not have resources to buy the equity existing.

In the Zimbabwean context indigenization has been manipulated to be a political weapon instead of economic weapon. More so its implementation has been said to be “ambiguous” and extreme.
The scheme in black and white is meant to benefit the indigenous people from an individual level up to an international level. However, this is not what is on the ground as there is massive grabbing of firm, farms which previously vitalised our economic terrain. Indigenisation was one of the President’s achievements (Meikles, Zimplats) but the problem is that a handful of people are enjoying the fruits.

Considering its implementation, economic indigenisation has been a curse rather than a blessing in Zimbabwe. After its implementation (2000s) there was a drastic fall in the economic sector which was fashioned by high inflation, unemployment, heavy beatings and illegal seizing of resources. It has derailed exponential economic recovery and growth. Commercial farms were grabbed and now they have been segmented to an extent that one can hardly send a bag of maize to GMB. In companies, nepotism is the order of the day.