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NewsDay

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‘Ring fence revenue from natural resources’

Business
THERE is need for government to jealously ring fence revenue from the natural resources sector, so that it could be fully invested in national development programmes, Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd), has said.

THERE is need for government to jealously ring fence revenue from the natural resources sector, so that it could be fully invested in national development programmes, Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd), has said.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

In its position paper on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s three-month moratorium for the return of externalised funds and assets, Zimcodd said government should consider ring fencing revenue from natural resources.

“Despite the country’s endowment with plenty of resources, not much benefit has been realised. Illicit financial flows and externalisation of funds and assets dominated transactions in the economy has continued to impinge development. This depleted the generated dividends meant to finance the national fiscus,” reads part of the paper.

“There is need to jealously ring fence revenue from the natural resources sector so that the revenue can be fully invested in national development programmes. Research shows that most of the externalised funds and/or assets were from the natural resources sector,” it reads.

Zimcodd said the root cause for the social and economic rot in the country was emanating from lack of rule of law. Hence, government should address the issue.

It said the new government should ensure the implementation of the recommendations made by the Auditor General’s Office in order to deal with issues of transparency and accountability, especially at local, national government as well as in parastatals.

“In the interest of promoting transparency and accountability, Zimcodd continues to call on the government of Zimbabwe to revisit the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Debt Assumption Act, re-investigate and audit the debt and reveal who owes how much and the individuals and/or companies must also honour their debts and start making repayments,” it said.

As a broader issue, Zimcodd said the whole national debt for Zimbabwe needed to be audited to assist the country to pay back legitimate debt and reduce the burden from the ordinary tax payer.

It also said the civil service huge wage bill should be addressed to relieve the budget of ghost workers as exposed in the Mukonoweshuro Public Service Audit Report as the country unlocks resources for social and economic development.