Of bond notes and media deception

Nothing could be more pig-sickening than a packet of lies in black and white. It could be easier to forgive if it is taken as reckless abandon to detail by the writer, but becomes atrocious when it is a sustained agenda to frame reality in a certain way to paint a grim outlook.

As the central bank sweats to end the ever winding bank queues, some sectors of the media purposely continue to prophesy doom aimed at causing market anarchy at the introduction of the Bond Note.

Parallels can be drawn with the Clinton, Trump media fiasco. Media skepticism and support of the system surrounded the probability of Donald Trump rising to power, and yet a reality check came forth when Hilary Clinton's White House dreams only remained but a media mirage.

The media seem to have adopted a deception pattern. Whilst the media elected Clinton as the shoo-in for the top job, the electorate voted otherwise. Likewise, as some sectors of the media and National Electoral Reforms Agenda (NERA) plotted against bond notes, the market decided otherwise.

According to a statement by Dr Charity Jinya, president of the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ), "All banks have witnessed an encouraging uptake of bond notes since their introduction on Monday 28 November 2016. Banks have reiterated that they are committed to fully complying with all regulatory requirements and will continue to work closely with the central bank in providing solutions towards the ease of doing business."

This statement comes on the back of various media reports that banks were grappling with teething administrative problems to dispense the new notes!

Several of the country's most respected media outlets are eating a humble pie after boldly predicting resistance of the market to the introduction of bond notes.

Social media (facebook and whatsapp) was awash with the same message, "People say no to bond notes"

Even the opposition was deluded to assume the savior mentality role to the public by an urgent chamber application to the Constitutional Court by former Vice President Joice Mujuru challenging the legality of introducing bond notes. Likewise, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Fred Mutanda approached the High Court over the same issue.

But who are they serving? And from what?
ZANU-PF opposers and the media both believed what they wanted to believe. Instead of acknowledging this as a measure to ease cash shortages in the country, it was prescribed as a political move by ZANU to avoid the rand union which the government had been urged to adopt.

The inescapable fact is that most media outlets got it wrong. Bond notes had been accorded a false equivalence bearers' cheque status, a provision which had been designed to ease cash challenges, collolary to the bond note.

Hence public opinion anticipated a rejection from the market.

The rural population or ever growing informal sector which traditionally transacts in hard cash was neglected in this bond circus because these sectors of the economy prefer whichever currency available to sophisticated electronic banking or automatic teller machine cards.

While NERA is pursuing with their lobby for removal of bond notes from the market, with an attempted demonstration in vain, denial remains their powerful enemy as they continue spitting into the wind.

The call to denounce the bond note is exacerbated by need for relevance by most political persons, and any opportunity to ride on media coverage for popularity.

The most powerful thing about the digital disruption of media is that it allows many channels of information to spring up that anyone can become a news publisher and distributor, and the public can choose who to trust and who to believe.

But that strength is also a double-edged sword. It allows us to find sources that cater to our beliefs instead of challenging them, and it allows us to see what we want to see, not what is actually there.

The bond note is here to stay and was welcomed by all market sectors.

The bond note was merely being challenged by a few detractors who blew matters out of proportion to an extent that they tainted the public domain leaving many to believe on the 'evilness' of a mere currency.

One of the downsides of today's media landscape is that it is so fragmented and more open to misinformation, disinformation, and even outright hoaxes and lies.