Jonathan Moyo condemns parliamentary act for seizing Mutumwa Mawere’s mines, calls President Emmerson Mnangagwa ‘bush lawyer’

Zimbabwean politician, Jonathan Moyo, who is considered the core architect of the AIPPA and POSA restrictive legislation, is always in the headlines due to his aggressive comments either against the head of the country or the entire parliamentary system. The 61-year old former program director of Nairobi-based Ford Foundation has recently denounced the Act of Parliament that was utilized to takeover Shabanie Mashaba Mines calling it diabolic and malicious.

Shabanie Mashaba Mines is currently owned by Mutumwa Mawere, a Zimbabwean-South African businessman who has high interests in mining, manufacturing and agro industries, international trading, telecommunications, publishing etc. The 58-year old business magnate acquired the asbestos mining company named Shabanie Mashaba Mines in 1996 and then expanded it through all of Zimbabwe's economy.

"I think the Reconstruction of State Indebted Companies Act of 2004 was a diabolic and spiteful piece of legislation conceived by Patrick Chinamasa (former Finance Minister) at the instigation of President Emmerson Mnangagwa to target Mutumwa Mawere," Jonathan Moyo said.

Moyo didn't put himself back from attacking the President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa personally. He directly called him a 'bush lawyer' in his statement. Just a few days back, he blamed Mnangagwa for secretly involved in black magic. According to Moyo, due to his alleged involvement, baffling fires broke out and situations turned extremely bad in several places in Zimbabwe.

"Of all the lawyers I worked with in government and ZANU-PF, I found Mnangagwa a bush lawyer and Chinamasa a Rhodesian lawyer with no sense of justice," Moyo added.

Mawere's Shabanie Mashaba Mines were halted in the dedicated mining locations, Mashava and Zvishavane, in 2008. Three years back since its cessation in 2008, the government seized those mines from Mawere under a controversial Reconstruction law that allows the State to take over assets of businesses deemed to be insolvent and incapable of servicing loans and charges owed to State institutions and agencies, as reported by Bulawayo 24 News.

Recently, Mawere challenged the constitutionality of the Reconstruction Act as the government is in a spree of seizing the organizations in the name of the controversial act. He also urged the Parliament to address glaring discrepancies in the act.