The Zanu PF propaganda machine has gone into overdrive in a rearguard action to justify the regime’s decision to reverse the 2009 decision to allow a basket of foreign currencies as legal tender.
“These (foreign currency) controls allow countries to better manage their economies by controlling the in-flow and out-flow of currency, which may otherwise create exchange rate volatility. Countries with weak and/or developing economies generally use foreign exchange controls to limit speculation against their currencies,” wrote Conway Tutani.
What the apologist is ignoring is that Zimbabwe experience its worst (so far, we have just started another phase and God only knows the new heights we will scale) local currency exchange rate volatility in the period 2000 to 2008. Hyper inflation peaked at a world record of 500 billion % and Z$ 35 quadrillion, ie 35x10^24 or 35 followed by 24 zeros, was worth US$1! The Z$ was the only legal tender and so it was not the foreign currency that fuelled the hyper inflation but the Zimbabwe’s own voodoo economic policies such as the madness of printing of more Z$ in bigger and bigger denominations.
The people lost confidence in the Z$ because it was worthless and so most economic activities ground to a halt, companies closed, shop shelves were empty, people’s savings and pensions were wiped out and millions of Zimbabweans were thrown into abject poverty. The Zimbabwe economy has never fully recovered from the economic chaos of the hyperinflation years ending November 2008; unemployment soared to 90% and has never fallen below 80% and millions of Zimbabwe still live in abject poverty to this day.
In November 2008 the worthless Z$ was scrapped and people were allowed to trade freely using a basket of foreign currency. Overnight inflation dropped to single digit, the shop shelves started to fill up with imported goods (it required a lot more than relaxing trade in foreign currency to kick start the collapse agricultural sector and industrial production).
Zanu PF has stealthily re-introduced the local currency to be used along side the basket of foreign currency. The regime has slowly started to inject more and more of the local currency into the economy; the regime has been straining on its leash, it temptation to revert to its old way of printing money was too much, and now it has broken the leash.
In January the monthly inflation rate was 5% or so and today, six months latter, it has already soared to 100%! The days of hyper inflation are back alright. The local currency is now losing half its value every month and there is worse to come as the inflation rate is growing exponential. It is not surprising that some people are already refusing to be paid in local currency and government’s own workers, teachers nurses and soldiers, have been demanding that their wages must be paid in US$!
Zanu PF has decided to banish the use of the foreign currency as legal tender to force people to accept the local currency as the only legal tender. Economic activities will slow down just as happened during the 2000 to 2008 hyper inflation years; people would rather hang on to what they have than sell and be paid in worthless money!
“Zimbabwe needs its own official currency, period. This obsession with the US dollar is unsustainable from an economic point of view. The US dollar should be traded in banks only. We need our own currency going forward,” continued Tutani (foaming and frothing).
“The price madness should be stopped by market forces as usage of the Zim dollar increases. It's a process, not an event as some sections of the media are making it out to be with headlines screaming failure.
“It's up to us to make the Zimbabwe dollar work — it's all in our hands.”
Who is “us”? Ordinary Zimbabweans did not have any meaningful say in the imposition of this policy or anything else for that matter. The imposition of a worthless currency is already having a disastrous effect on the nation and is doomed to fail and all you are already blaming the people for it!
Zimbabwe is not a healthy and functioning democratic nation, in which the ordinary people have a meaningful say in the governance of the country. Indeed, Zimbabwe would not be stuck in this mess with this corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF dictatorship for 39 years if the people had power to remove the regime in free, fair and credible elections. It is a matter of public record that Zanu PF rigged last year’s years, even the regime’s own partners in the vote rigging crime, the MDC Alliance are finally openly admitting it.
"Legitimacy is an issue - last year's elections were illegal, and not free and fair. All reasonable observers concede that," admitted David Coltart, MDC Alliance Treasurer General.
It has taken Nelson Chamisa and his MDC Alliances friend nearly a year before they finally admitted that last year’s elections were indeed flawed and illegal and Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF are, per se, illegitimate. Now the cat is out of the bag, all the other Zimbabwe opposition minions who dutifully endorse Mnangagwa as legitimate are under pressure to renege their cock and bull nonsense.
The people of Zimbabwe must do is to make sure those responsible for this Z$ fiasco and the country’s economic mess - Minister Mthuli Ncube, President Mnangagwa, Zanu PF apologists like Conway Tutani and the rest of Zanu PF regime - are finally held to democratic account.
If we are ever to got out of this hell-on-earth of worthless money, economic chaos and political paralysis of illegitimate government Zanu PF has dragged us into; we are must end the curse of rigged elections. We must make sure the next are free, fair and credible and for that to happen Zanu PF must step down to allow the implementing of the democratic reforms to dismantle the regime’s carte blanche dictatorial powers.
“It's up to us to make the Zimbabwe dollar work!” So the regime imposed the Z$ and we, the helpless victims of the tyrannical regime's corrupt and blundering incompetence, are to blame for Z$'s doomed failure! How convenient!
6 comments:
Both Zanu PF and MDC know that the solution to ending Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis is implementing the democratic reforms to ensure there free, fair and credible elections. Both parties have had many opportunities to get this done but have wasted them dragging the nation deeper and deeper into this abyss.
Both Zanu PF and MDC realize the seriousness of the situation the country is in are are calling for national dialogue for the purpose of consolidating their own selfish political interest first and foremost. If the dialogue was to bring about any meaningful economic revival, that would be a bonus.
There two most important things Mnangagwa want out of the political dialogue are:
1) Legitimacy Mnangagwa knows that Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections and all international election observers of note said so. He is hoping that the political dialogue will bring in all the political parties and civic organisations solidly behind him and thus pile the pressure on the Western nations in particular to accept that all Zimbabweans have accepted his regime as legitimate regardless of the flaws and illegalities in last year’s elections.
2) If the political dialogue should bring about any economic recovery, Mnangagwa would claim the lion’s share of the credible. If there is no meaningful economic recovery, he would go to town in pointing out that no one else would have done better. He would certainly take exception to anyone pointing the finger of blame at him.
The two things on MDC A’s wish list from the political dialogue are:
1) Force Zanu PF into power sharing arrangement in which MDC A are given gravy train positions.
2) Force Zanu PF to concede power to secure more gravy train seats for the party in future. MDC would like to see the constitution amended to create the post of Official Opposition Leader complete with shadow minister entitled to all the usual ministerial limo, generous salary and allowances.
Anyone out there who expect the political dialogue to result in the implementation of meaningful political reforms and free, fair and credible elections is day-dreaming. Mnangagwa and Zanu PF would rather see Zimbabwe reduced to ruins first before they would give up power. The closest the party came to conceding to have the reform implemented was during the 2008 GNU the new power sharing being proposed will leave Zanu PF in total control, they will see to it that no meaningful reforms are ever implemented.
Besides Mnangagwa knows MDC A leaders will be quite content if their second wish is implemented.
The only way to ensure the democratic reforms are implemented is by forcing Zanu PF to step down, because nothing will ever be accomplished whilst they remain in power. Nothing.
“We need a national transitional authority, we need to have a soft landing for our country. If we do not do that, we are heading for an implosion, an Armageddon.
“An Armageddon, in the form of another military coup and this is a point which I keep on seeing, that the signs are there just as they were obvious in 2017,” said the Harare East legislator.
Zimbabwe had a GNU and soft-landing following cheating and wanton violence of the 2008 elections. Sadly, the GNU failed to implement not even one democratic reform and hence the reason was able to rig the 2013 and last year’s elections landing us back in the political mess of having no legitimate government.
The only reason Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti and few other MDC A leaders are as keen as mustard to have this transition authority is because they are desperate for a gravy train seat.
Mnangagwa was cocksure his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” would revive the country’s comatose economy. It did not because, contrary to his cheap propaganda, Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs. No one wants to do business with thugs. The inclusion of Chamisa, Biti and one or two other MDC A leaders in the illegitimate Zanu PF regime will NOT change the pariah state reality.
The TA will be a soft-landing for both Zanu PF and MDC A leaders but will be a complete waste of time and opportunity for the nation. Zimbabwe needs to end the curse of rigged elections and pariah state and the only sure way for that to happen is to appoint an interim administration tasked to implement the reforms.
The banning of the use of the multi currency in Zimbabwe at the very time when the scourge of inflation was back and soaring, from 5% monthly in January to 100% today, did not make any economic sense. It was the soaring inflation that was forcing people to refuse the local currency as payment in favour of the more stable foreign currencies. Teachers, nurses, civil servants and other workers were demanding that their wages must be paid in US$ for the same reason - the local currency was losing its value.
The reasons given by the regime and its apologists to justify the banning of the multi currency are feeble excuses or down right lies. The argument that people must accept the Z$ because it is the patriotic thing to do is a foolish one. Of course, it is foolish to support the voodoo economic policies resulting in the local currency losing its value and forcing millions into abject poverty. Only a fool would take pride in doing the wrong thing particularly when they are the ones paying dearly for the folly!
The regime's argument that it banished the foreign currencies to protect the people from being forced to pay in foreign currencies is flawed because it fails to acknowledge that it is the regime's own failure to contain inflation that cause the lose of confidence in the local currency. The banning of the foreign currencies will slow down economic activity and drive the national economy even deeper into the abyss; the people will suffer even more!
It is easy to see why we in Africa have fallen into the trap of yesterday’s liberators have become today’s oppressors and today’s liberators will be tomorrow’s oppressors! Even when the set objective has been crystal clear to all – freedom, liberty and justice for all – as soon as the leaders get into power, they switch the set objective for worthless one.
Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs have ridden roughshod over the people’s freedoms and basic human rights including denying them a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life. The tyrant and his thugs have never tired of reminding the populous that they are the ones who fought the liberation war to end white colonial exploitation and oppression. From nowhere, Mugabe would launch into a tirade attacking the “British imperialists and their allies” and blaming them for all Zimbabwe’s ill and how he will stand solid as a rock to defend the nation’s independence and sovereignty. All hogwash to hide his regime’s blatant denial of the people’s freedom and human rights whilst he and his cronies robbed them blind!
MDC leaders’ set task was crystal clear from the time the party was launched in 1999 – to bring about the democratic changes the nation was dying for as the party’s name stated. MDC has failed to bring about even one democratic change in the party’s 20 years on the political stage. “We ran the economy well. The figures speak for themselves!” MDC leaders have said again and again with the same blind fixation of Zanu PF thugs.
Zimbabwe is stuck in this economic and political mess because it has failed to deliver free, fair and credible elections, a basic human right but also a key requirement for good and accountable governance. Both Zanu PF and MDC leaders will never deliver free, fair and credible elections because each for their own selfish reasons have airbrushed free, fair and credible elections out of their must do list. The two have become yesterday and today’s oppressors respectively. Zimbabwe needs today’s liberators but must be on the lookout they too do not turn the next oppressors.
November 2018
"We have to choose an option that is credible, that is sustainable and that is least costly, both in terms of time administratively and in terms of time building reserves. There is a cost to introducing a currency; so you have to evaluate all of this. But before you do that, sort out the fundamentals," Ncube tells editors that a new currency will only be introduced when fundamentals are in place.
April 2019
"With currency reforms, you can never be precise, but I say 12 months. I am preparing minds; I am preparing your mind, so it is coming," Ncube warns of impending currency reforms while attending the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington.
June 2019
"What was happening in the market was that, the market was self-US-dollarising; it was uncontrollable and we felt that we needed to bring the situation under control," Ncube explains why government re-introduced the Zimbabwean dollar on Monday.
https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-165237.html
The primary reason Ncube has blundered from pillar to post without any worry in the world of the havoc and human suffering he was causing is because he knew he would never ever be held to account for anything. Zimbabwe must address its bad governance problem by ending this curse of rigged elections and pariah state. Nothing of any substance will ever be accomplished until we implement the reforms and end the culture of rigged elections.
"People want a definitive outcome not just another public holiday!"
Could not agree with you more! The worsening economic hardship are real but even that is not enough to get people to join a mass-action with no clearly defined objectives.
I would not join an MDC A demo either because I do not agree with its selfish objective of forcing Zanu PF to share power so that party leaders like Chamisa can get back on the gravy train. There is nothing in it for me and millions of other ordinary Zimbabweans because we all know at the end of the transition authority we will face the same problem of not even one reform implemented and another rigged elections.
If MDC failed to get even one reform implemented during the 2008 GNU in which SADC leaders were pushing Tsvangirai and company to implement reforms; only a fool will believe MDC will do an better now.
If there is going to be sustained protests, comparable to those taking place in Sudan, then there must be a clearly defined objective. We should be demanding that Zanu PF to steps down so the country can appointed a interim administration tasked to implement the reforms and deliver free, fair and credible elections!
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