The study by the Zimbabwe Coalition for Debt and
Development (Zimcodd) sampled people in Bulawayo, Harare, Mutare, Gweru and
Masvingo to get their views on the compensation of the war veterans.
This was after concerns were raised that the number of war
veterans in the country has actually ballooned from the 34 000 who were
compensated in 1997 to 160 000 after the vetting of war collaborators and
detainees this year.
“The survey noted that although the compensation of the war
veterans is a welcome development, the continuous increase in the number of war
veterans makes one wonder whether they (fought) their own liberation struggle;
which is different from the one that was fought in the 1970s,” the Zimcodd
statement said.
“Thus, lack of transparency in the selection process
remains a cause for concern. According to one key informant from Gweru, the
increase in the numbers defies logic as it reflects that more war veterans were
born between 1997 and 2022 and glamorise wholesome and populistic policies. To
this end, the politics of public resources was regarded as the epicentre of the
controversial increase in numbers; pointing to the hegemony in the political economy
of the country.”
Zimcodd also said the identification process lacked
transparency because it was not publicised.
“The principle of transparency and accountability remains
the nerve-centre of prudent public finance management. Since its inception the
war veterans’ compensation process has been done in an opaque manner in which
the citizens are not furnished with the granular details of how the
beneficiaries are selected. The selection model should never be done in secrecy
and the Ministry of Defence should put the list of qualities that are used to
select beneficiaries on its website. This essentially will also help in
building public confidence and trust,” Zimcodd added.
Economist Brian Sedze said without an increase in
productivity and the tax base, government would be forced to print money to
finance the programme.
“The economy will scream. This time, expect complete death
of the currency, accelerated inflation and exchange rate because 160 000 war
veterans is such a big leap in numbers compared to (less than) 50 000 in 1997.
Pensions, long-term investments, savings, insurance and medical aid will die a
bigger death fast. The economy will self-dollarise and sovereign debt will
multiply beyond the US$19 billion curtailing future growth. The little jobs in
manufacturing will die; and with erosion of income, people can expect massive
job action and an increase in the protest vote,” Sedze said in an opinion piece
recently. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment