Herbert Murerwa
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The Right Honourable Herbert Murerwa MP |
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|---|---|
| Minister of Lands and Land Resettlement of Zimbabwe | |
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Assumed office 13 February 2009 |
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| Prime Minister | Morgan Tsvangirai |
| Minister of Finance of Zimbabwe | |
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In office 1996–2000 |
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| President | Robert Mugabe |
| Succeeded by | Simba Makoni |
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In office 2002–2004 |
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| Deputy | Christopher Kureneri |
| Preceded by | Simba Makoni |
| Succeeded by | Christopher Kureneri |
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In office 2004–2007 |
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| Preceded by | Christopher Kureneri |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Mumbengegwi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 July 1941 |
| Political party | Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front |
| Profession | Farmer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Herbert Muchemwa Murerwa (born 31 July 1941) is a Zimbabwean politician. He served as the Minister of Finance in the Government of Zimbabwe from 1996 to 2000, from August 2002 to February 2004, and again from 26 April 2004 to 6 February 2007. He has been Minister of Lands and Land Resettlement since February 2009.
In a cabinet reshuffle on 9 February 2004, Murerwa was replaced as Finance Minister by his deputy, Christopher Kureneri, and was instead appointed as Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. Following the arrest of Kureneri, Murerwa was additionally appointed as acting Finance Minister later in 2004. On 16 April 2005, he was formally appointed as Finance Minister again, leaving the post of Higher Education Minister; this followed the March 2005 parliamentary election, in which Murerwa was elected to the House of Assembly from Goromonzi constituency.
Murerwa engineered the historic repayment of USD $120 million (out of $300 million) in debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), prior to their enforcement of a threat to expel Zimbabwe from the IMF for nonpayment of arrears (31 August 2005). Commenting on his country's accomplishment, he stated that it proved "that no one can write off Zimbabwe as yet" and that we "can still do things on our own." This repayment has put Zimbabwe in an excellent position to move forward on loan talks with neighbour South Africa for a loan of between US$200 and US$500 million.
During his tenure Zimbabwe's economy shrunk by 30% between 2000 and 2004 following the seizure of about 4,500 white-owned commercial farms which sent agricultural production plummeting.
Inflation, at 164.3% in June 2005, increased to 254.8% in July 2005, creating a speed-bump on the road to the government's goal of bringing inflation down to 80% by year end. Murerwa recently presented a supplementary budget to pay wages, import food and build new housing, after admitting that targets for economic growth and inflation would be missed. Inflation was at 1193% in July 2006 making it the highest inflation rate in the world outside the war zones. Many people viewed Murerwa as the reason why the Zimbabwean economy was struggling due to his 'yes my lord' approach towards President Robert Mugabe. This was aggravated by the fact that he opposed the currency reforms initiated by Gideon Gono, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe director, in August 2006. Before that Murerwa wanted to introduce $250,000 bearer cheque during the absence of Gono which would have fuelled the inflation rate further only to be stopped by Mugabe.
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