Charity begins at home

VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga has sent a chilling warning to currency speculators, particularly singling out retailers and threatening to shut down their businesses if they do not support the country’s sixth currency in two decades. Speaking in Bulawayo this week Chiwenga said: “ZiG (Zimbabwe Gold) is there to stay forever. The new currency will, therefore, not be subject to exchange rate volatility or manipulation by speculators.

“So, speculators somewhere [wherever you are] jumping around trying to play around in the supermarkets, we know [you]. Behave or you get shut down or we will lock you [up]. Two things.”

While we clearly understand exactly what government is trying to do to extricate our economy from the bog, threats to whip errant businesses and individuals into line may, however, not help our situation much.

Granted, Zimbabwe is an economy which has been mismanaged for far too long a time and may need such crude methods to restore sanity, it is, however, our carefully considered view that economies are what they are because of how governments in these many different economies behave and conduct their business.

Just for argument’s sake: What would happen if government today decides that the only currency it will accept for all its services and all the taxes citizens pay is the ZiG?

We sincerely believe that this would be groundbreaking because when each citizen, including the retailers, come to realise that the only currency for transacting with government is the ZiG, they will be left with zero option but to conduct their businesses using this currency.

However, Zimbabwe — being Zimbabwe — is a completely different ball game which requires other key fundamentals to be in place for government to make this very bold decision.

Most fundamentally, government must lead by example by accepting no other currency but the ZiG and after receiving that ZiG from taxes, duties and royalties on all our exports, it must transparently account for it because presently it is quite disconcerting that our Auditor-General keeps telling us that the way government is handling our hard-earned money leaves a lot to be desired.

Go to any country, the government there requires payment for its services in that country’s currency. It is only is Zimbabwe where government is so coy to use its very own currency that it is prepared to use other nations’ money to conduct its business.

So, all we are saying is once government wholeheartedly accepts its own currency and transparently account for it, there will be absolutely no reason for all these threats from our leaders to shut down businesses deemed to be sabotaging the local currency.

If truth be told, the bulk of Zimbabwean citizens do not trust the government as far as money issues are concerned, especially given that this is a sixth currency it has created in 20 years, which is probably a global all-time record times.

Government has proven itself so wanting on matters of managing money that few now trust what it says as far as money issues are concerned. The sages say: “Charity begins at home.”