By Levi Mhaka
Published January 15, 2008
Published January 15, 2008
The media has reported that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor, Gideon Gono, has been has been granted the request to appear before the Parliamentary Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee on January 21, 2008. This follows his request to do so on December 19, 2007, when he spoke live on national TV and radio in which he purported to have a list of the so called cash barons. This came against a background of over 6 weeks of a cash shortage in Zimbabwe and a wait in see attitude by the governor.
Our members of parliament in the committee have no the capacity to deal with the RBZ governor effectively given the talk that most of these people compromised since most of them are beneficiaries of both the ASPEF and farm mechanization programmes initiated and run by the central bank. False hope is being created by the hype in the media pushed by Gono.
The Parliament in Zimbabwe is not not known to have either the power to pass a vote of no confidence in public official nor request him to resign because the Constitution of Zimbabwe does not empoer it to do so.
The disbursement of Agriculture Sector Productivity Enhancement Facility ( ASPEF) funds commenced in June 2005, while beneficiaries of the agricultural mechanization programme were not selected on merit. Loans under the ASPEF facility are currently attracting an all inclusive interest rate of 20% per annum. This means that the central bank has been borrowing at a TB annualized yield rate of 340% and lending at 20%, while the last known reported inflation figure at 7,982% year on year to September 2007.
A hearing of the central bank governor before the committee will not scrutinise his submissions. It will not be an exercise of a public inquiry into his and the central bank's conduct.
Much of what he is going to say will be his emotional response to what is coming out of the magistrate court where illegal forex dealers have been exposed to be the runners of the central bank. The nation will not enjoy the benefits of a cross examination of the central bank governor by a lawyer or the public prosecutor. He will be blaming everybody except himself. He will be name clling and smearing any banking and business institution. Anyone named must have a right of response to all manner of accusations by Gono.
A Parliamentary Committee reports to the Parliament, which is expected to act on the report. Legally, a parliament cannot exercise its legislative powers beyond the provisions of section 50 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which states that " Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament may make laws or the peace, order and good government of Zimbabwe."
Therefore, for the purposes of public confidence, there is need for a Judicial Commission of Inquiry under the provisions of Commission of Inquiries Act (Chapter 10:07). The Anti-Corruption Commission of Zimbabwe (ACCZ), led by former Comptroller and Auditor-General, Abdulman Eric Harid, cannot even do this job because the ACCZ is heavily compromised since it was fully resourced by RBZ funds through Gono's personal intervention.
The Attorney General, Sobhusa Gula-Ndebele, was suspended and in the interest of due process, a 3-member tribunal was set-up to look into allegations that he abused his office.
Under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act (Chapter 22:15) section 17 (2) (a), the President, after consultation with the Minister of Finance, may require the Governor or a Deputy Governor to vacate his office if he has been guilty of conduct which renders him unsuitable to continue to hold office.
On January 10, 2008, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete sacked the central bank governor over irregular payments made from the bank.
The move against Daudi Ballali as the Governor of Bank of Tanzania came after Kikwete investigated a report into payments worth about 133 billion Tanzania shillings made to 22 firms.
There are 3 crimes that Gono must be investigated on:
1. mismanagement of the local currency;
2. fuelling and driving the parallel forex market through nominee private companies to the detriment of all economic activities rendering proper pricing of goods and services futile; and
3. flouting of the tendering and procurement regulations in the purchase of foreign currency, goods and services.
The first role provides for the central bank to create a stable and stabilize the currency system by acting as the sole issuer and controller of the currency, and through this, to lay the foundation for sustainable economic development.
This enables people to use money confidently.
To achieve a stable currency system, two requirements must be satisfied:
Our members of parliament in the committee have no the capacity to deal with the RBZ governor effectively given the talk that most of these people compromised since most of them are beneficiaries of both the ASPEF and farm mechanization programmes initiated and run by the central bank. False hope is being created by the hype in the media pushed by Gono.
The Parliament in Zimbabwe is not not known to have either the power to pass a vote of no confidence in public official nor request him to resign because the Constitution of Zimbabwe does not empoer it to do so.
The disbursement of Agriculture Sector Productivity Enhancement Facility ( ASPEF) funds commenced in June 2005, while beneficiaries of the agricultural mechanization programme were not selected on merit. Loans under the ASPEF facility are currently attracting an all inclusive interest rate of 20% per annum. This means that the central bank has been borrowing at a TB annualized yield rate of 340% and lending at 20%, while the last known reported inflation figure at 7,982% year on year to September 2007.
A hearing of the central bank governor before the committee will not scrutinise his submissions. It will not be an exercise of a public inquiry into his and the central bank's conduct.
Much of what he is going to say will be his emotional response to what is coming out of the magistrate court where illegal forex dealers have been exposed to be the runners of the central bank. The nation will not enjoy the benefits of a cross examination of the central bank governor by a lawyer or the public prosecutor. He will be blaming everybody except himself. He will be name clling and smearing any banking and business institution. Anyone named must have a right of response to all manner of accusations by Gono.
A Parliamentary Committee reports to the Parliament, which is expected to act on the report. Legally, a parliament cannot exercise its legislative powers beyond the provisions of section 50 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which states that " Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament may make laws or the peace, order and good government of Zimbabwe."
Therefore, for the purposes of public confidence, there is need for a Judicial Commission of Inquiry under the provisions of Commission of Inquiries Act (Chapter 10:07). The Anti-Corruption Commission of Zimbabwe (ACCZ), led by former Comptroller and Auditor-General, Abdulman Eric Harid, cannot even do this job because the ACCZ is heavily compromised since it was fully resourced by RBZ funds through Gono's personal intervention.
The Attorney General, Sobhusa Gula-Ndebele, was suspended and in the interest of due process, a 3-member tribunal was set-up to look into allegations that he abused his office.
Under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act (Chapter 22:15) section 17 (2) (a), the President, after consultation with the Minister of Finance, may require the Governor or a Deputy Governor to vacate his office if he has been guilty of conduct which renders him unsuitable to continue to hold office.
On January 10, 2008, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete sacked the central bank governor over irregular payments made from the bank.
The move against Daudi Ballali as the Governor of Bank of Tanzania came after Kikwete investigated a report into payments worth about 133 billion Tanzania shillings made to 22 firms.
There are 3 crimes that Gono must be investigated on:
1. mismanagement of the local currency;
2. fuelling and driving the parallel forex market through nominee private companies to the detriment of all economic activities rendering proper pricing of goods and services futile; and
3. flouting of the tendering and procurement regulations in the purchase of foreign currency, goods and services.
The first role provides for the central bank to create a stable and stabilize the currency system by acting as the sole issuer and controller of the currency, and through this, to lay the foundation for sustainable economic development.
This enables people to use money confidently.
To achieve a stable currency system, two requirements must be satisfied:
(a), the value of the currency must be stabilized, i.e., price stability must be maintained; and
(b), circulation of money and the functioning of the mechanisms through which monetary transactions are processed, i.e. the settlement and financial systems, must be stable and efficient.
The central bank's two major objectives are that of maintaining price stability and ensuring financial system stability. The mission of the central bank, therefore, is to fulfill these two requirements in order to preserve the soundness of the currency, and thereby provide a solid foundation for sustainable economic growth and for an improved standard of living.
To achieve price stability, it manages the monetary aggregates in the economy and interest rates. This is the essence of monetary policy. Is the Zimbabwe currency system stable and are people using the currency confidently? The answer is NO to both questions.
Inflation has been galloping and our currency has become very useless (mamvemve) since Gono took over as the Governor on December 1, 2003. Inflation was at 385% and the parallel market rate of the US$ was at ZW$6,000 ($824). By December 1, 2007, they were both 24,059% and ZW$5,200,00 (ZW$30,000), respectively. The exchange rates are even after the re-valuation that was done in August 2006! In January 2007, an renowned economist had forecasted that the parallel rate would be at ZW$180,000 in December 2007.
During the trial of the directors of a briefcase trading company called Flatwater Investments (Pvt) Ltd, the senior public prosecutor called for a full enquiry over the conduct of the central bank in the matter involving trillions of Zimbabwe dollars, which are said to be more than ZW$20 trillion.
The prosecutor told the court it was important for "the whole picture to come out" in the way RBZ funds were channelled to the forex parallel market without any records of the transactions. He said this practice could not be allowed to continue as some of Zimbabwe 's economic problems emanated from the forex paralle market.
RBZ Governor, Gideon Gono, who has led a "clean-up" crusade of the financial sector, has denied the central bank was the major player on the thriving parallel market.
Writing in his weekly column in the State-owned Sunday Mail newspaper on December 30, 2007, the Executive Chairman of the Media and Information Commission (MIC), Tafataona Mahoso, wondered why he only wanted to reveal the names of the so called 'cash barons' to the Parliamentary Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee. But that committee is not a prosecuting authority. Why should the alleged names be released only to them?
The MIC chief said that "because liquidity means the means by which to manipulate and move the factors of productive power in a capitalist society, a cash shortage of the magnitude Zimbabwe was subjected to in late 2007 is far worse then any industrial stay-away or "final push" ever organised by the "regime change" forces in this country since 1997. In the former stay-aways, patriotic citizens could choose not to participate. In a cash shortage, everyone is forced to stay away from what they normally do in order to line up and wait for the little cash."
The 4 main legal texts with relevance for tendering in Zimbabwe are: the Procurement Act and the Procurement Regulations (Amendment) Regulations, 2003 No 2
The central bank's two major objectives are that of maintaining price stability and ensuring financial system stability. The mission of the central bank, therefore, is to fulfill these two requirements in order to preserve the soundness of the currency, and thereby provide a solid foundation for sustainable economic growth and for an improved standard of living.
To achieve price stability, it manages the monetary aggregates in the economy and interest rates. This is the essence of monetary policy. Is the Zimbabwe currency system stable and are people using the currency confidently? The answer is NO to both questions.
Inflation has been galloping and our currency has become very useless (mamvemve) since Gono took over as the Governor on December 1, 2003. Inflation was at 385% and the parallel market rate of the US$ was at ZW$6,000 ($824). By December 1, 2007, they were both 24,059% and ZW$5,200,00 (ZW$30,000), respectively. The exchange rates are even after the re-valuation that was done in August 2006! In January 2007, an renowned economist had forecasted that the parallel rate would be at ZW$180,000 in December 2007.
During the trial of the directors of a briefcase trading company called Flatwater Investments (Pvt) Ltd, the senior public prosecutor called for a full enquiry over the conduct of the central bank in the matter involving trillions of Zimbabwe dollars, which are said to be more than ZW$20 trillion.
The prosecutor told the court it was important for "the whole picture to come out" in the way RBZ funds were channelled to the forex parallel market without any records of the transactions. He said this practice could not be allowed to continue as some of Zimbabwe 's economic problems emanated from the forex paralle market.
RBZ Governor, Gideon Gono, who has led a "clean-up" crusade of the financial sector, has denied the central bank was the major player on the thriving parallel market.
Writing in his weekly column in the State-owned Sunday Mail newspaper on December 30, 2007, the Executive Chairman of the Media and Information Commission (MIC), Tafataona Mahoso, wondered why he only wanted to reveal the names of the so called 'cash barons' to the Parliamentary Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee. But that committee is not a prosecuting authority. Why should the alleged names be released only to them?
The MIC chief said that "because liquidity means the means by which to manipulate and move the factors of productive power in a capitalist society, a cash shortage of the magnitude Zimbabwe was subjected to in late 2007 is far worse then any industrial stay-away or "final push" ever organised by the "regime change" forces in this country since 1997. In the former stay-aways, patriotic citizens could choose not to participate. In a cash shortage, everyone is forced to stay away from what they normally do in order to line up and wait for the little cash."
The 4 main legal texts with relevance for tendering in Zimbabwe are: the Procurement Act and the Procurement Regulations (Amendment) Regulations, 2003 No 2
A supplier of goods and services is slected either through informal, formal or special-formal tendering must satisfy mimimum requirments.
Suppliers of goods and services need to be assessed and excluded on the basis of their economic and financial capacity ( e.g. annual turnover) and technical capacity (e.g. experience of similar contracts).
A government and quasi-government procuring authority must award a tender on the basis of the following criteria:
- Lowest price, i.e. the lowest priced tender wins. No other element of the tender may be taken into account; or
- The most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). Where the award criteria is MEAT, the procuring authority may take into account factors other than or in addition to price, like quality, technical merit and running costs. MEAT allows a procuring authority to balance the requirements, for example, of price and quality which in certain cases may achieve best value for money.
Our central bank governor must retain the remaining shreds of his credibility by 'honourably' resigning. His official performance cannot warrant his continued stay in office.
To the many of us, he is like a witch who feeds your children. He is like a python that slowly takes your attention with colourful movements of its body before bringing you down and squeezing you for a meal.
To the many of us, he is like a witch who feeds your children. He is like a python that slowly takes your attention with colourful movements of its body before bringing you down and squeezing you for a meal.
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Important to Note
Important to Note
Parliamentary Committees
In parliamentary democracy, the purpose of parliamentary committees is to scrutinise government and quasi-government activity including legislation, the conduct of public administration and policy issues. It does so mainly by conducting inquiries into specified matters which includes taking submissions, hearing witnesses, sifting evidence, discussing matters in detail and formulating reasoned conclusions.
Government accountability means that public officials -- elected and un-elected -- have an obligation to explain their decisions and actions to the citizens. Government accountability is achieved through the use of a variety of mechanisms -- political, legal, and administrative -- designed to prevent corruption and ensure that public officials remain answerable and accessible to the people they serve.
A parliamentary committee consists of a group of Members or Senators (or both in the case of joint committees) appointed by one or both Houses of Parliament. Through its committees the Parliament obtains information from Government agencies and peak bodies and advice from experts on the matters under investigation.
Through its committees, a Parliament is able to be better informed of national problems and issues. Committees provide a public forum for the presentation of the various views of individual citizens and interest groups.
Types of Parliamentary Committees
Committees in the Parliament of Zimbabwe fall into two broad categories, namely; House Keeping and Investigative Committees. Currently all Committees have membership from both the Senate and the House of Assembly. Housekeeping Committees generally are concerned with the smooth administration of Parliament. Examples of investigative Committees include Portfolio Committees, Thematic Committees, the Public Accounts Committee and Ad Hoc Committees.
Portfolio Committees
These are Committees designated according to government portfolios to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of government departments and other matters falling under their jurisdictions as Parliament may by resolution determine. Most of the work of Parliament is carried out by and generated in Portfolio Committees. Portfolio Committees are expected to table at one report per session in Parliament covering their activities. Portfolio Committees perform both a pre-audit and post-audit function.
The following are the Portfolio Committees currently operational in the Parliament of Zimbabwe:
a) Budget, Finance and Economic Development
b) Defence and Home Affairs
c) Education, Sport and Culture
d) Foreign Affairs, Industry and International Trade
e) Health and Child Welfare Trade
f) Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
g) Lands, Agriculture, Resettlement, Rural Resources and Water Development
h) Local Government, Public Works and National Housing
i) Mines, Energy, Environment and Tourism
j) Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare
k) Transport and Communications
l) Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation (Link to Members of the Committee)
Membership of the Budget, Finance and Economic Development
Hon. D. Butau
Hon. A. Bhebhe
Hon. Chief Bushu
Hon. Sen. B.Chikava
Hon Sen. Chief Charumbira
Hon F. Kanzama
Hon Sen Kabayanjiri
Hon T. Khupe
Hon. Sen Khumalo
Hon C. Majange
Hon J. T Malinga
Hon T. Mashakada
Hon L. Matuke
Hon E. Mushoriwa
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