CITIZENS Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa yesterday warned that the economic situation will get worse because of the failure by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to manage the local currency.
“Did you know that for every litre of fuel you buy, a total
of 47 cents goes to the government in the form of taxes? That is why our fuel
is the most expensive in the region. That is going to trigger massive price
hikes,” Chamisa told thousands of party supporters at Dulibadzimo Stadium in
Beitbridge yesterday.
Last week, the government announced another fuel hike,
which saw the price of both petrol and diesel going up by 10% from US$1,51 to
US$1,67 for petrol and US$1,68 for diesel. Reports suggest that an alarmed
Mnangagwa blocked a mooted third increase.
The government attributed the latest price hikes to Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine and warned that fuel prices might continue to rise on a
weekly basis.
Chamisa said apart from failure to afford basic goods and
services, Zimbabweans were over-taxed.
“You will see prices of other commodities going up, that will
affect your incomes and lives. CCC is a party which has the capacity to make
your lives better. We will reduce the high taxation levels and ensure that fuel
prices are comparative to prices charged in the region,” he said.
Chamisa said his government would enhance production and
grow the economy so that the national budget will be US$100 billion as opposed
to the current US$4billion.
On elections, Chamisa said CCC would soon be taking the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to task over the release of a biometric
voters roll.
“This time we are not going to allow these guys (Zec) to
rig us, we are looking at the things they are doing to rig the polls and we are
clear that we want the voters roll released in biometric format,” he said.
In past elections, Zec has refused to release the biometric
voters roll, citing security reasons. It
has only released the voters roll in excel format with biometrics missing.
Audits of the voters roll have revealed gross
irregularities which the commission has failed to explain.
On the eve of the rally, heavily armed riot police were
deployed in the border town.
Zanu PF Beitbridge youth leaders tried to arrange a meeting
at the same venue and time as the CCC rally, but police spokesperson, Assistant
Commissioner Paul Nyathi told NewsDay that the ZRP was in control of the
situation.
CCC local authority candidates for Beitbridge are Morgan
Ncube and Granger Nyoni. They were recalled in 2019 by the MDC-T led by Douglas
Mwonzora for belonging to the MDC Alliance. Newsday
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