Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has once again shown that he is one of the few responsive leaders in government, reversing Statutory Instrument 20 (SI 20) of 2017, which placed value-added tax (VAT) on meat products, cereals and other basic commodities.
Comment: NewsDay Editor
Chinamasa erred when he introduced the SI without consultations, but what should be celebrated is that he realised where he had gone wrong and reversed his decision.
This is all Zimbabweans deserve and this is all they have been asking for, a government that responds to their issues and addresses their problems.
SI 20 had disastrous effects, as it increased the prices of basic commodities, placing them out of the reach of many.
Despite their protestations, many Zimbabweans must have felt that they had no choice, but to live with this very bad decision, as happened with SI 64/2016, which all but banned the importation of various goods.
In spite of several presentations and protests, the government obstinately ploughed on with the law and many may have feared the worst when Chinamasa gazetted SI 20/2017.
Chinamasa deserves a feather in his cap, as he increasingly seems as the lone voice of reason in a government that seems desperate to make people’s lives difficult by the day.
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This is the same spirit he seemed to carry when he engaged the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and the country will do well with one or two more politicians like Chinamasa.
Zimbabwe is in the doldrums and it needs ministers who have the ability and are willing to listen to citizens, rather than believe they are the only ones with the answers.
As everyone knows, politicians do not have all the answers, as they have failed over the past 37 years and there is need for ministers to engage and be responsive to citizens’ needs.
If the government had embarked on an inclusive approach, we hazard to say this country would not be in the shambles it presently is in.
We hope Chinamasa takes the same diligence to parastatals, which have for more than a decade been in need of reform and cleaning out.
State enterprises and parastatals continue to be a burden on the fiscus, yet bosses there are literally paid a fortune.
This is a situation that should not be allowed to continue and a culture of good corporate governance should be cultivated in parastatals.
The government cannot continue treating parastatals with kid gloves, as some of them are directly responsible for the rot the country is in.
There should be no sacred cows, otherwise all efforts to improve ease of doing business, attract foreign direct investment and improve the economy, would be in vain.
