Harare City Council tried to switch to US dollar rates
collection from Saturday on two-days notice but had this illegal attempt was
shot down by the Government a day later, with it being made clear that the
Zimbabwe dollar is the sole legal currency and that nothing can be billed in
other currencies without special permission, which councils do not have.
Zimbabwe National Organisation of Associations and
Residents Trust (ZNOART) national chairperson Mr Shalvar Chikomba said
Treasury’s directive has been a welcome relief to residents.
“We would like to stress to all Government ministries,
departments and agencies as involved in local service provision that in
principle the directive still stands,” he said.
“We clearly understand viability and cost recovery in
public service provision but it is surprising that the US dollar charges are
across the board, regardless of whether or not the service has a foreign
currency component. This is contrary to Section 13(c) of the Public Finance
Management (General) Regulations and also contrary to the Treasury’s directive
that directly grants “exceptional approval”.
“We see no justice for ‘exceptional approval’ as there has
been poor and non existent service delivery yet service providers management is
always living large. The US dollar can be used but payment for services within
councils has been directed to use Zimbabwe dollar equivalent at plus or minus
10 percent of the prevailing interbank rate published by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe according to SI of 118A of 2022.”
Mr Chikomba said they stood guided by two way communication
fundamentals which regards feedback as continuous and central to both councils
and residents as enshrined in the Devolution and Decentralisation Policy of
2020.
He said councils must engage residents first, get their
approval and input in principle when intending to review an approved budget.
“Councils should not apply dollarisation clandestinely
because there is no law in Zimbabwe that allows billing residents in US dollars
when the budget was adopted in Zimbabwe. The switching of currencies is in
contravention of Public Finance Management Act and amounts to budget
tampering.”
The opposition CCC-led Harare City Council has been
directed by the Government to stop charging rates in United States dollars,
following a recent notice to the residents by the corruption riddled local
authority that starting from last Saturday it was now charging all rates and
services in US dollars.
Council made the announcement on Thursday so as to raise
money to fund the cash strapped CCC in the upcoming general elections slated
for August 23 this year.
Secretary for Finance and Economic Development Dr George
Guvamatanga on Friday wrote to his Local Government and Public Works
counterpart Mr Zvinechimwe Churu to order the Harare City Council to stop
charging rates in foreign currency and comply with the relevant laws.
Dr Guvamatanga said the charging in US dollars by the City
of Harare was unlawful and contravened monetary laws.
The letter was also copied to the Minister of Finance and
Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube and the Chief Secretary to the
President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda.
“As you are aware, secretary in 2019, Government adopted
the use of the Zimbabwe dollar which was introduced in February 2019 through
the Presidential Powers (Treasury Measures) (Amendment of Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe Act and Issue of Real Time Gross Settlement Electronical Dollars (RTGS
Dollars)) Regulations, 2019 published in Statutory Instrument 33 of 2019,” Dr
Guvamatanga said.
“In June, Government published the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(Legal Tender) Regulations, 2019 published in S.I 142 of 2019. The provision of
S.I 142 of 2019 provides that subject to section 3, with effect from 24 June
2019, the British pound, United States dollar, South African rand, Botswana
pula and any other foreign currency whatsoever shall no longer be legal tender
alongside the Zimbabwe dollar in any transaction in Zimbabwe.
“Accordingly, the Zimbabwe dollar shall, with effect from
the 24th June 2019, but subject to section 3, be the sole legal tender in
Zimbabwe in all transactions. For avoidance of doubt, it is declared that
references to the Zimbabwe dollar are coterminous with reference to the
following and to no other forms of legal tender or currency: the bond notes and
coins referred to in section 44B of the Act and, the electronic currency prescribed
for the purpose of section 44C of the Act, that is to say to the RTGS dollar.”
Dr Guvamatanga said in terms of the provisions of S.I 142
as incorporated in the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019, the Zimbabwe dollar is the
sole legal tender for all settlements within Zimbabwe.
He said any billing for services in foreign currencies can
only be done if provided for by law or if exempted in terms of the Exchange
Control Regulations. Herald
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