By Own Correspondent| President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been urged to appoint an economist as Finance minister and resist the temptation of appointing a lawyer for this very important portfolio.

Economist and executive director of African Economic Development Strategies, Dr Gift Mugano said appointing lawyers as Ministers of Finance is not good for the country because they do not understand the fundamentals of economics.

Speaking at a Mass Public Opinion Institute discussion, Mugano urged President Mnangagwa to pick a finance minister from the pool of economists within Zanu Pf.

Said Mugano:

“We should have a Minister of Finance who is an economist, not a lawyer because they will not understand what I am talking about…

We were importing maize through corruption because the price of maize is $390 (a tonne) and politicians were bringing maize from Zambia without doing any farming and selling it at $390….

If you see them putting a lawyer as Finance minister, you must know that we are in trouble. There are many economists in Zanu PF and technocrats.

There is nothing magical that can be done by someone who is Finance minister, yet he did not study economics.”

Outgoing Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Patrick Chinamasa, as well as his predecessor Tendai Biti, are both lawyers.