Nestle Zimbabwe
Re-Opens For Business
Swiss
food company Nestle says it has resumed operations in Zimbabwe,
following assurances by the government that its business will
not be interfered with.
Nestle shut its Harare
factory last month, complaining of harassment by authorities
after it cancelled a deal to buy milk from a farm taken over by
President Robert Mugabe's family.
Nestle said its decision to shut the facility was prompted by an
unannounced visit from government officials and police on
December 19, after which the firm was forced to accept a milk
delivery from non-contracted suppliers.
A senior company official said on Tuesday that Nestle, which
employs more than 200 people in the country, had reopened its
factory after getting government assurances that its operations
would not be interfered with.
Two of its managers, including expatriate managing director
Heath Tilley, were questioned by police and released without
charge the same day.
Nestle stopped buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate, owned by
Mugabe's family, in October following international criticism of
a deal agreed in February.
REUTERS/Yinka
