TICHAONA KATSVAMUTIMA IN KADOMA
The indigenous business lobby group, the Affirmative Action Group (AAG) says central bank chief John Mangudya (pictured) should make bold decisions and cause the arrests of the people those sabotaging the economy, Business Times can report.
Speaking at the relaunch of the AAG in Kadoma, secretary general, Clifford Hlupheko said top government officials and politicians should be arrested for sabotaging the economy.
“Our economy is also struggling because of inflation. We want to urge (John) Mangudya to have people who are sabotaging our economy arrested, we have seen several names publishing but we have not seen any action.
“We want him to copy His Excellency (President Emmerson Mnangagwa) to make bold decisions. He has fired even ministers you consider very powerful and this is the kind of action we want because we cannot continue to look at inflation going up,” Hlupheko said.
He added: “As AAG we are saying we cannot afford to see the gains that have been made reversed because of people who think they are untouchable.”
In October last year top executives and directors from up to 20 big companies were arrested following the RBZ investigation into massive multi-million-dollar fraud involving the country’s foreign currency reserves.
Mangudya said the arrest of company directors for contravening the Exchange Control Act was never a “key result area” but a way of bringing order on the market.
Several company bosses were either caged or quizzed by the police and Financial Intelligence Unit for allegedly sourcing foreign currency from the black market or pricing their goods at parallel market rates in violation of the Exchange Control Act.
Statutory Instrument 127 of 2021 prohibits trade in goods and services at an exchange rate above the foreign currency auction system rate.
The parallel market exchange rate has continued rising despite the arresting of the alleged dealers culpable for it, said Norton independent MP Temba Mliswa.
He said this shows that these arrested people are the wrong ones and are not responsible for this.
“The RBZ has done well releasing names of those accessing forex but it should now enforce and follow up how that money is used.
“Otherwise those arrested are just unfortunate victims of another weak operation.
“Few, if any, of these supposed operations have ever worked,” he said.
