Businessman-cum-politician Phillip Chiyangwa has called for early elections, saying current tensions in government are affecting economic growth and the solution is to urgently have polls so the nation could concentrate on developing the country.
Addressing chartered accountants in Kariba last weekend, Chiyangwa said early polls would create a conducive environment for national growth, contrary to what other business players believe.
“In Zimbabwe, you will be so good economically once democratic elections are held and incumbents are no longer headlines of newspapers. So in Zimbabwe the urgent dispensation of elections will make business sense as the economic future is embedded in the political matrix,” said Chiyangwa.
The property mogul said business and politics could not be divorced.
“Politics and business are a marriage and it’s not just a mix-up, but it’s the life we live,” he said. Chiyangwa, who was accompanied by Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment minister Saviour Kasukuwere, encouraged youths to venture into business and seize opportunities availed by government.
However, Chiyangwa’s statements on early elections fly in the face of what many of his colleagues in business are pushing for.
Recently, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Joseph Kanyekanye supported the decision to delay elections, saying this would give the economy time to recover and stabilise.
“CZI sees no reason for elections at this critical stage in Zimbabwe’s economic recovery,” said Kanyekanye recently.
