Prosecution of the foreign currency violators will
intensify this week, leading to presentation of evidence in the courts, while
the compilation of the offenders’ dockets is almost complete.
The State’s Crack Team, dedicated to dealing with serious
economic offences is handling the cases. In an interview with our Harare Bureau
yesterday, Mr Hodzi said the State was tightening the screws against economic
saboteurs.
“More arrests, court appearances and prosecutions of the
accused persons and their entities are going on. The investigations have
yielded credible evidence and the compilation of dockets in some cases is
almost complete.
Prosecutions are going to be fast-tracked through the five
teams that have been set up at Harare Magistrate Court.
Each team comprises a minimum of two or three seasoned
prosecutors working with Investigators. Another Crack Team is being established
in Bulawayo at the Tredgold Magistrate Court.”
Mr Hodzi said the blitz on currency violations, which
started on October 7, is gathering momentum.
“So far 14 accused persons or directors of accused entities
have been arrested. In all the cases the State has managed to establish prima
facie cases against the accused persons. The total value of foreign currency
involved in these cases runs into tens of millions.”
Mr Hodzi said the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and
investigators were working through a National Interagency Taskforce which is
operating around the clock with abundant resources allocated to the operation.
In a statement yesterday, the Zimbabwe Cross Border Traders
Association (ZCBTA) secretary general, Mr Augustine Tawanda commended
Government efforts to tame the exchange rate volatility which it said is being
driven by corporate indiscipline, greediness and primitive capital accumulation
on the part of industry and commerce.
He said the Ministry of Industry and Commerce should
conduct value chain audit on exorbitant mark-ups of basic commodities and
deploy inspectors to enforce compliance.
Mr Tawanda said the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture,
Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement should protect agro-based value chains
and urged the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise
Development to revisit the concepts of People’s Shops and organise direct
access of good from local manufacturers respectively.
He, however, appealed to the Government to open up space
for cross border traders to conduct business within the confines of Covid-19
protocols given that over 300 000 traders have lost their source of income.
In a statement on Thursday, the Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries (CZI) urged authorities to work with business to implement solutions
that are not heavy-handed, as the arrest of business leaders will destabilise
the market.
The blitz on economic saboteurs was launched on 7 October, with authorities warning of more jail time for those caught in the net adding that the State will vigorously oppose bail for offenders who had become a security threat. Sunday News
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