Ncube's budget will tax the poor to death

On Wednesday 21 November 2018, Professor Mthuli Ncube, Zimbabwe’s minister of Finance, presented his maiden national budget. There are many things one can say about the budget, I will just say five things:

1) ”The spike in prices of goods and services appears to have receded, confirming that the main price hikes were a spontaneous response to uncertainty and confidence issues,” he said.  

What he should have gone on to say he had created most if not all the uncertainty with his ill-advised and downright foolish statements. He said Zimbabwe was going to phase out the Bond Notes only to contradict that a few days later. 

He then said “market forces” will determine the value of the Bond Notes relative to the US$ and other foreign currencies only to say the opposite a day or so afterwards. This caused serious panic in the economic and financial markets with the Bond Notes : US$ exchange jumping from the official 1:1 to as much as 10:1! 

If Zimbabwe had been a healthy and functional democracy, Minister Ncube would have been forced to resign; Zimbabwe is Banana Republic and so he stayed. If anyone thought the above admission showed the Minister had learned his lesson the next statement shows he had not!

2) "The 2 917 Youth Officers who still remain on the payroll, are being retired and the posts removed from the establishment, by end of December 2018,” he said.

"At its 38th Meeting of 5 December 2017, Cabinet re-affirmed its decision to terminate employment contracts of 3 188 Youth Officers as previously resolved.”

President Mnangagwa had made a big song and dance about ending corruption, mismanagement, etc. that had become endemic under Mugabe’s reign. Now the nation learns that it was all hot-air the few Zanu PF youths laid off were those belonging to the rivalry G40 faction. 

Even if the regime finally act and laid off these Zanu PF youths, commonly known as the green bomber in reference to their traditional green uniforms and are nothing more than green flies laying life nuggets on the wounds of the sick nation; nothing much will change. 

The nation is painfully aware that President Mnangagwa has “redeployed” most of his former cabinet members, permanent secretaries, etc. on their last salary, perks everything. Only those considered to be G40 members have been laid off. In other words the nation is shedding off one set of blood sucking ticks only to inherit another! This is just a revolving door!