OPPOSITION parties have blasted Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa over his recent claims that Zimbabwe had the capacity to fund its own programmes and could do without external help.
BY RICHARD CHIDZA
Mnangagwa last week declared that successes recorded under the command agriculture scheme, which was funded through a public-private partnership, had proved that the country could do without foreign aid.
“Fortunately, when we asked the private sector to come on board, the finances that were put on the table were more than what we required,” Mnangagwa was quoted as saying.
“Nothing came from outside Zimbabwe. Our various subsectors and endeavours in the economy have the capacity to finance our own programmes and this is an example where we have done it ourselves.”
But MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu yesterday said Mnangagwa was detached from reality.
“With all due respect to the VP, we are not sure if we are living in the same country. It is a public secret that the national Treasury is bankrupt. This is evidenced by the decision to stagger the payment of civil servants’ bonuses,” he said.
“Maybe Mnangagwa knows of a parallel Treasury purse that is not known to all of us. If it was a joke, then surely it’s not funny. It is a joke in bad taste.”
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People’s Democratic Party spokesperson Jacob Mafume said Mnangagwa’s claims were the opposite of the situation on the ground.
“Despite the evidence of a huge deficit and that there is no hope for the government to achieve a primary balance under (Finance minister Patrick) Chinamasa, Mnangagwa continues to flummox by saying the opposite,” he said.
“Mnangagwa told a gathering that Zimbabwe had the capacity to fund its own development projects when the official government indicators are that 90% of revenue is consumed by recurrent expenditure.
“Mnangagwa is, however, not new to the world of hallucination. A few weeks ago, he claimed that there is $9 billion idle in the banks, when broad money supply in circulation is theoretically $6 billion as per RBZ [Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe] figures.”
Opposition parties urged government to resort to cash budgeting as a way of dealing with the situation, including “retirement of 200 00 ghost workers”.
