KAMBUZUMA legislator Willias Madzimure (MDC Alliance) on
Thursday described Finance minister Mthuli Ncube as a complete failure,
claiming Members of Parliament have managed to “put him where he belonged”,
while they await the Executive decision on whether he remains in Cabinet.
The MDC legislator who is a member of the Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) said this during a panel discussion convened by the National
Association of NGOs (Nango) under the theme Public Finance Management: Can it
be a Gateway to Sustainable Economic Development.
Madzimure said Ncube had presided over a lot of chaos
during his tenure as minister, including allowing over-borrowing by government
in breach of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) which stipulates that any
new borrowing must not exceed 20% of the previous year’s revenues. The debts
are now being paid through Treasury Bills with government simply printing the
money.
As a result of over-borrowing without Parliament approval,
Ncube is now set to approach the House with three Bills for condonation, one of
which will deal with the US$3 billion which cannot be traced, but is said to
have been allocated for Command Agriculture between 2017 and 2018.
“As a country, we have been seriously affected by the
behaviour of the fiscal authority which borrowed a lot of money which we did
not have on the domestic market and it directly affected operations to the
extent that we are now experiencing company closures,” Madzimure said.
“In Parliament, MPs have been able to put Ncube where he
belongs, but it is the duty of the Executive to decide whether he remains as
Finance minister or not because his performance is dismal – but I cannot say
that former Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa should come back because he is
the one who actually killed all financial systems in Zimbabwe.”
Madzimure said Ncube was selling Zimbabweans a myth about a
budget surplus, adding that ministry officials like accountant-general Daniel
Muchemwa wantonly broke PFMA rules by allowing ministries to use money without
the Accountant-General signing certificates of receipt of that money.
“This week the Accountant-General Muchemwa ended up leaving
his position because of pressure by the Tendai Biti-led PAC. This time PAC
means serious business and our reports will be harsh and recommend firing of
public officials found to be corrupt and misusing public funds,” he said.
Kipson Gundani, who represented business at the
discussions, said Ncube was taking the country back to the 2008 era due to his
incoherent policies.
“I think this country is full of theatre performers where
Ncube speaks of a budget surplus, but there is no electricity, water or
medicines and you wonder whether Ncube is a theatre actor getting excited by
mere figures. We have resources that are enough to turn around the economy, but
there is no transparency and accountability.
“What is happening is direct printing of money and the same
formula that brought us to the 2008 situation is being used again. Ours is a
broken country, broken currency and a broken people who need healing,” Gundani
said.
Zimcodd official Naomi Chakanya said wanton breach of the
PFMA rules will hinder Zimbabwe from achieving the sustainable development
goals to reduce poverty, support health education, clean water and clean
energy.
“Last year, US$5 billion could not be accounted for by
different ministries. About US$4 million was paid to Zesa for transformers in
2017, but this was not accounted for and yet we are struggling with electricity
cuts,” Chakanya said.
Afrodad representative Tirivangani Mutazu said the country
has not been servicing its debts since 2000, adding that although Ncube was
paying the International Monetary Fund debt, they will still demand that the
country finishes off paying its debts to the African Development Bank and the
World Bank before accessing new lines of credit. Newsday
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