Responding to the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human
Rights through their lawyers Kantor & Immerman in a letter dated December
13, 2024, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion permanent
secretary George Guvamatanga said: “I refer to the above captioned and
specifically your letter of November 25, 2024 in that regard.
“You requested for information regarding the amount of the
that has been collected from the date of gazetting of the Customs and Excise
(Tariff) (Amendment) Notice, 2024 published in Statutory Instrument 16 of 2024
and an account of what cancer drugs and equipment have been procured to date
and to which hospitals these have been distributed. Please note my response
hereof.
“Thirty million eight hundred thousand United States
dollars (US$30,8 million) of special surtax on sugar content in beverages has
been collected as of November 2024.”
Guvamatanga’s response came after the human rights doctors
last month wrote to government demanding information on how much money had been
collected from the special surtax on sugar content in beverages and if it has
been used for the intended purposes.
The doctors said they were requesting the information in
terms of section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act [Chapter 10:33].
On what the money had been used for, Guvamatanga responded:
“The procurement of drugs and medical equipment is under the purview of the
Health and Child Care ministry. Hence, the Finance, Economic Development and
Investment Promotion ministry is not the competent authority to give you
information on your second request.”
In the 2024 national budget, Finance, Economic Development
and Investment Promotion minister Mthuli Ncube last November proposed tax on
high sugar content beverages, saying the revenue generated would go towards the
creation of a cancer fund. Newsday
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