President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said that all cabinet decisions will be released to the public on Wednesdays following each cabinet meeting on Tuesday. However, this week’s meeting was held on Monday as the official opening of parliament will be taking place on Tuesday. Here is the official briefing from Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa:
OPENING STATEMENT BY THE HON. SENATOR MONICA MUTSVANGWA, MINISTER OF INFORMATION, PUBLICITY AND BROADCASTING SERVICES, AT THE INAUGURAL BRIEFING ON CABINET DECISIONS.
1. As you are aware, the new Cabinet held its inaugural meeting yesterday, 17th September 2018, marking the commencement of official Government business under the Second Republic.
2. At that sitting, Government resolved to administer National Affairs in an open and transparent manner, consistent with His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa’s commitment to servant leadership and to opening Zimbabwe for both local and international business and investment activities.
3. Against such a commitment, it follows that key decisions of Government must and should be placed in the public domain, preferably soonest, so as to allow different players to take or modify business decisions in harmony with the broad direction of Government policy.
4. Since this was an inaugural Cabinet sitting, Government’s focus was on pressing issues which either constitute running items of Cabinet, or which may have arisen soon before its sitting. Our expectation is that as we move into the future, our Briefings will gravitate more and more towards substantive policy issues related to new matters, and to the long-term management of national issues.
5. In terms of format, I, as the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, and thus as Government Spokesperson, will chair these Briefing sessions whose import is to give pointers on policy decisions by Government. For every Briefing Session, I will have with me Ministers whose portfolios will have a bearing on anyone decision Government will have taken and meriting announcement to the Nation.
6. It is not for me to go into the meat of these decisions, something which you as the Media can always raise with the concerned Ministers. This means that by their very nature, these Briefings will only summarize decisions of Government thus providing critical leads on policies and programmes under execution.
7. You notice that I have with me the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr M.J.M. Sibanda. He will be a regular face during these weekly briefings to ensure close and accurate coordination between my Ministry and the Cabinet Office.
8. As this is an inaugural Briefing, we will indulge you a little by allowing you to field questions both on the format of this new public communication tool, and on substantive matters, we shall share with you shortly.With these few remarks, allow me, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media, to share with you decisions of Government for this week.
Hon. Senator Monica Mutsvangwa Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services 18/09/18