ZANU PF chief whip, Pupurai Togarepi has indicated that the government intends to reintroduce the basic commodities and groceries scheme, popularly known as Bacossi. The scheme was previously implemented by the then Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono during the 2007-2008 when the country as per official statistics recorded a record high inflation of about 231 million percent.
Speaking to journalists soon after the Zanu-PF Caucus meeting in Harare yesterday, Togarepi revealed the government’s plans to cushion citizens from inflation. He said:
The Government through the Grain Marketing Board is setting people’s shops so that people can access commodities at cheaper prices. The President urged MPs to convey this message to their respective constituencies. He said people should understand Government’s position on the ongoing economic reforms.
Togarepi also said that the president was calling upon the citizenry to be calm since the challenges the country is facing were a passing phase. He added that Parliamentarians should partner with relevant authorities so as to ensure that every household was provided with food.
The president’s remarks are in resonance with those delivered by Monica Mutsvangwa, minister of Information when she visited the United Kingdom recently.
Critiques then said that another Bacossi initiative will not work as the previous one did not work. Simply, the scheme does not address the economic fundamentals and is not sustainable. They said that the government needs the scarce foreign currency to import the commodities needed in shops since the industry is in a parlous state.
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