Members of the Presidential Advisory Council are said to have clashed with Presidential Spokesperson George Charamba when they met at their inaugural meeting on Friday. Charamba is reported to have wanted the PAC to focus only on international re-engagement an instruction which was thrashed.
“The Presidential Advisory Council met and its members were unhappy with George Charamba trying to lecture them on what they were supposed to do, limiting their terms of reference to international re-engagement. Apparently, UNDP is funding the group.” National Patriotic Front Spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire revealed.
“The PAC members who attended the meeting resisted Charamba’s bossy attempts to confine them to international reengagement and instead organised themselves in clusters according to areas of expertise, e. g health, and insisted they would only advise in areas of expertise.”
Mawarire further revealed that UNDP had wanted a lean group of 15 members with international experience but Mnangagwa increased it to 22.
“UNDP had proposed the group be not more than 15 individuals mostly with experience having worked for multilateral institutions like World Bank, IMF etc but ED saw an opportunity for jobs for his homeboys & expanded it to 22.”
Commenting on the meeting media mogul Trevor Ncube said the PAC is a non-partisan entity that is committed to reviving the country.
“Members of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) met for the first time yesterday (Friday) afternoon for a briefing session with Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet. The session was a prelude to an inaugural meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa soon.
“PAC members are non-partisan professionals with distinguished achievements in the private sector, public sector and international organisations. PAC members receive no remuneration or perks from the government. They volunteer their time for the benefit of the nation.
“Transitioning from decades of dictatorship to normalcy is generally fraught with huge challenges and never easy. Our political and economic turbulence demands that we find each other to craft durable solutions. Our nation is hurting and needs all the help it can get.” Ncube said. – Byo24
