Eddie Cross the MDC member of parliament for Bulawayo South has praised President Emmerson Mnangagwa for his business acumen and for calling for free and fair elections. Cross said that the international community is engaging with Zimbabwe under the leadership of Mnangagwa and claimed to have personally been involved in negotiations for deals worth almost $3 billion in the last6 two months.
Contributing to debate in parliament on the Electoral Amendment Bill, Cross said,
I have been in business for more than 50 years. You cannot run a business at 15 or 20% interest. It is not possible. You cannot make enough money to service those debts. At 1 or 2% interest per annum, you can do just about anything, and the Chinese miracle has been built on cheap financing from the international market. Unless we get ourselves back into that position so that we can access that sort of funding, you can forget any economic recovery in Zimbabwe and the only way to do that is a free and fair election…I believe the President; Hon. E.D Mnangagwa understands that perfectly because he has been saying this for a long time now.
…You can see the reaction of the international community already. The flights from Johannesburg to Harare are full. You have to book a seat on a plane two to three days in advance. I understand during the first two months of this year 49 000 business visitors from overseas came to Zimbabwe.
The American Ambassador says he cannot handle the enquiries that he is receiving from the United States. I personally have been involved in the negotiation of contracts worth nearly $3 billion in the last two months. This is a sign Mr Speaker Sir, that the international community is responding to something. What they are responding to is the commitment by this Government to a free and fair election.
In December 2017, Cross also said that President Emmerson Mnangagwa was going to deliver results for the country
because he is an operator who should not be underestimated.
Source: Pindula
