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Zanu-PF government abandons the people, says Biti
04 Feb 2014 at 16:24hrs | Views
The national economic and political crises in the country are characterised by heavy de-industrialisation, a serious cash crunch and a national debt crisis, Tendai Biti, the MDC-T Secretary General and shadow Minister of Finance and Economic Development said today.
Addressing a press conference at the party's headquarters, Harvest House in Harare, Biti said the MDC-T will not bury its head in the sand and ignore the national crises that are affecting Zimbabwe.
"There is no question that Zimbabwe is mired in a serious, deep crisis," he said.
"There is confidence breakdown of the social contract, collapse in government revenue, capital account deficit. There is no doubt that the government of the day is no government as it is clueless, impotent, sterile, idea free and indifferent," said Biti.
He said it was evidenced in the past six months that the Zanu-PF government had no capacity from an economic point of view to govern.
"84 percent of the formal sector has collapsed. Day to day, we are seeing the de-industrialisation of the formal sector. The problem of the informal economy is that it is a dead economy that does not pay taxes and it is a tragedy that this clueless government of the day is celebrating the creation of the informal market," he said adding that Zimbabwe needed $4 billion in order to resuscitate key sectors such as mining, agriculture and rail cargo transport.
"That the (NRZ) National Railways of Zimbabwe has collapsed is an indictment to the Zanu-PF government," said Biti calling upon Zanu-PF to be pragmatic and honest by engaging the international community in negotiations.
Turning to corruption that has rocked most parastatals over illicit salaries, Biti said the people of Zimbabwe been shocked by this level of corruption by Zanu-PF linked officials and called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry that is headed by a retired judge.
"What has been disclosed so far is a tip of the iceberg. Suspending the board chairperson or firing the CEO is not enough. The commission of inquiry should look into all these scandals," he said.
Biti said that the populist policies of Zanu-PF, in slashing of rates, had led to the failure by local authorities to pay even basic salaries and called on the government to provide grants to the authorities so that they are able to provide better service delivery.
"We believe that logic should prevail. The government should provide a grant so that the local authorities will not fail to provide rudimentary services," he said adding that it was a crime and unconstitutional for Zanu-PF to fail to pay school fees for over one million children through the Basic Education Assistance Model (BEAM).
The government has abandoned its role of leading and this has led to the unprecedented suffering that the people are going through. The avenues of surviving are very minimal," said Biti.
Addressing a press conference at the party's headquarters, Harvest House in Harare, Biti said the MDC-T will not bury its head in the sand and ignore the national crises that are affecting Zimbabwe.
"There is no question that Zimbabwe is mired in a serious, deep crisis," he said.
"There is confidence breakdown of the social contract, collapse in government revenue, capital account deficit. There is no doubt that the government of the day is no government as it is clueless, impotent, sterile, idea free and indifferent," said Biti.
He said it was evidenced in the past six months that the Zanu-PF government had no capacity from an economic point of view to govern.
"84 percent of the formal sector has collapsed. Day to day, we are seeing the de-industrialisation of the formal sector. The problem of the informal economy is that it is a dead economy that does not pay taxes and it is a tragedy that this clueless government of the day is celebrating the creation of the informal market," he said adding that Zimbabwe needed $4 billion in order to resuscitate key sectors such as mining, agriculture and rail cargo transport.
Turning to corruption that has rocked most parastatals over illicit salaries, Biti said the people of Zimbabwe been shocked by this level of corruption by Zanu-PF linked officials and called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry that is headed by a retired judge.
"What has been disclosed so far is a tip of the iceberg. Suspending the board chairperson or firing the CEO is not enough. The commission of inquiry should look into all these scandals," he said.
Biti said that the populist policies of Zanu-PF, in slashing of rates, had led to the failure by local authorities to pay even basic salaries and called on the government to provide grants to the authorities so that they are able to provide better service delivery.
"We believe that logic should prevail. The government should provide a grant so that the local authorities will not fail to provide rudimentary services," he said adding that it was a crime and unconstitutional for Zanu-PF to fail to pay school fees for over one million children through the Basic Education Assistance Model (BEAM).
The government has abandoned its role of leading and this has led to the unprecedented suffering that the people are going through. The avenues of surviving are very minimal," said Biti.
Source - Byo24News
