President passes law to jail

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has gazetted Statutory Instrument 213 of 2019 that amended the Exchange Control Act of 2019 which will see individuals and companies transacting in any other currency other than the Zimbabwe dollar being fined up to $30 000 or face jail.

The President gazetted the SI in terms of section 2 of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Regulations Act (Chapter 10:20). According to the SI, individuals and companies will now exclusively use the Zimbabwe dollar for domestic transactions.

Those transacting in any other currency will face fines ranging from $40 to $30 000 depending on the category and or jail.

“Section 5 (offences and penalties) of the principal Act is emended by the insertion of the following subsection (4d) (4e) A contravention of any regulations made under section 2(i)(d) prohibiting the sale, offering for sale, quoting, displaying, charging, receipt or payment in any currency other than the Zimbabwean dollar for goods and services whose purchase, sale or disposal are or deemed to be a domestic transaction, is a civil default for which the defaulter is liable to a civil penalty of the category specified in those regulations,” reads the Statutory Instrument.

The SI further states that Under the Exchange Control (Exclusive Use of Zimbabwean Dollar for Domestic Transactions Regulations, 2019), no person shall pay or receive as the price or the value of any consideration payable or receivable in respect to such transaction any currency other that the Zimbabwean dollar.

However, some transactions have been exempted and can still be paid using foreign currency. Those, according to the Statutory Instrument include carbon tax payments for foreign registered vehicles, third party insurance for foreign registered vehicles, road access fees for foreign registered vehicles, electronic sealing fees and finances charged by or to trans-border logistics enterprises or trans-border electronic tracking or tagging enterprises, among others.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has opened investigations on companies and individuals who are understood to be illegal manipulating the exchange rate for selfish gains.

Zacc commissioner John Makamure told our Harare Bureau that the anti-graft body’s pursuit is being jointly undertaken with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).

“Zacc is mandated in terms of the schedule to the Anti- Corruption Commission Act Chapter 9:22 to investigate any offences related to corruption,” he said. RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya said the central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) will crack the whip on errant dealers.