Stiffer penalties urged for blacklisted contractors
THE directors of suppliers now banned from ever having a Government contract after fuelling the foreign currency black market also need to be blacklisted in their personal capacities so they cannot register a new company and carry on as usual, Zimbabweans have said.
Reacting on social media to the recent announcement by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube, on the blacklisting of 19 firms for engaging in parallel market activities, many Zimbabweans said the current penalties being imposed appeared to be non-deterrent.
The companies were blacklisted after the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe started monitoring what was happening to the payments from Government to its suppliers.
This led to the discovery that some were dealing on the black market despite warnings after the Government changed its payment system to support the potentially honest among its contractors and offered much better solutions to the problem of retaining value of local currency payments.
“In an endeavour to maintain sanity in the foreign currency market and to curb inflation, Government is left with no other option than to blacklist the mentioned companies,” said Prof Ncube.
He identified the 19, most of which are private limited companies, as Nariox, New Age Marketers, Pepwit Investments, Tirumi Investments, Mwendo Africa, Alg World Investments, Lobmer Investments, Nisbank Enterprises, Sailgroom Enterprises, Wayvar Investments, Poweride Safaris, Azelion Energy, Blackdeck, Paza Buster, Redan Coupon, the Best Car Rental, the Legacy Car Rental, Josam Enterprises and Construction Warehouse.
Commenting on the blacklisting of 19 firms by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, some readers of The Herald said that monetary authorities should also bring to book the directors of the unscrupulous entities.
One reader identified as Mr Pardon Muyambo said the Finance Ministry should blacklist both the company and its directors.
“I hope they blacklist both the companies and their directors. Most of them have a habit of mutating into new companies with the same directors,” said Mr Muyambo.
“Just blacklisting is not enough. They still can form new companies. There is a need for some sort of punishment or forfeiture of proceeds,” said another reader identified as Rush.
Another reader, Mr Frank Mabhenga concurred with Mr Muyambo and Rush saying that blacklisting of directors will curtail profiteering by Government contractors.
“Certainly, they must blacklist both the directors and the companies because some people are too greedy, they just want to make easy and cheap money,” Mr said Mabhenga.
The blacklisting of unscrupulous contractors comes as a result of tighter monetary measures that have been credited for stabilising the exchange rates over the past months.
Kadoma economist and motivational speaker, Dr Kudzanayi Vere, said: “The parallel market rates hikes have been a very big cancer in our economy which for the past two months the Government has successfully contained through the central bank and this has brought some form of stability in commodity pricing.
“So, anyone playing against such efforts must be decisively dealt with because the person who suffers the most is that old lady and that poor family in Binga and Katerere,” he said.