Zimbabwe national Informal Economy Network is not political- official says

Senior official of the Zimbabwe National Informal Economy Network  has dismissed claims that the organization is political aligned.

In a statement the organisation said since the meeting of the Zimbabwe National Informal Economy Network with the opposition MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday last week, there has been some murmurs from some sections of civil society implicitly suggesting that the leaders or representatives of the informal economy are either politicians or driven by political interests.

"As spokesperson of this movement, I wish to clarify and put a few issues into perspective. The National Informal Economy Network is a non-partisan national platform for groups working in the informal sector to work together and speak with one voice on issues where they have convergence. Because these movements represent people, pursue and advance their interests, they become inherently political but non partisan," reads the statement.

"The National Informal Economy Network will meet any of the country's political leader anytime, anywhere as long as we feel that there is value or benefit to be derived from that meeting as far as the interests of the informal traders are concerned. If we can meet (President) Robert Mugabe or (Vice President) Emmerson Mnangagwa today we will definitely meet and tell them in their faces the tragic state in which their government has plunged our economy."

The organisation said it is in this context that it  met with the country's main opposition leader Tsvangirai of the MDC.

"Tsvangirai's party is particularly relevant to us for two fundamental reasons and one strategic reason. Firstly, the MDC controls 33 local government authorities in Zimbabwe. It is therefore important to liase with the MDC in our quest to find a solution to the ongoing dispute between the vendors and the city authorities," reads the statement.

"In the run up to that meeting, we insisted that Tsvangirai should bring the Mayor of Harare (he brought the acting Mayor Mbanga), the chairperson of the informal sector committee Janjadzi, and the town clerk (who didn't turn up). He also brought his portfolio secretary and shadow minister of local government Eddie Cross. I am happy to state that the MDC committed to pass a full council resolution stating that confistication of goods and harassment of vendors by the municipal police is illegal and totally prohibited. We will be on their necks on this!"

The organisation also said the meeting also resolved that council should not make any resolutions that affect the informal sector without consultations with NIEN and to have periodic meetings between councils and the informal sector representatives.

"The second fundamental reason is the fact that the MDC has presence in Parliament and we greed that the MDC would, through its parliamentary representatives push for the speedy alignment of local government laws to the new constitution," reads the statement. "The third less fundamental but strategic reason was in the context of 2018 in which the MDC will be a major player, to hear what the MDC's vision for the informal sector is and to share with them our own views in that regard."

The organisation said lastly, we reiterate our call for the informal traders to abstain from utilising the banking facilities until we have fully assessed the implications of the sudden introduction of bond notes by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

"This is a precautionary measure to cushion our members from being short changed by exchange disparities in the transition of the monetary market as it adjusts to these new changes. In 2008, millions of people lost their hard earned money when we converted to the US dollar and we can't allow our people to suffer the same predicament again. We will have failed in our representative role," reads the statement.