President Emmerson Mnangagwa was told by chiefs from Matabeleland and Midlands regions to urgently deal with the cost of living which has become unbearable.
The chiefs presented a document to President Mnangagwa in a meeting held at the Bulawayo State House last Friday. The chiefs said:
Your Excellency, the ever-rising prices of basic commodities is causing serious pain in our communities and needs urgent attention.
In fact, the cost of living is now totally unbearable, as the cost of all goods and services has skyrocketed beyond the means of our rural and urban communities.
The RTGS$ is increasingly becoming useless, creating uncertainty among both investors and consumers.
What makes the situation worse is that the rising cost of living comes at a time when levels of unemployment and lack of income are very high.
This means very few people can afford even the most minimal standard of living. The stability of the country going forward will depend very much on the government’s ability to deal with people’s lack of confidence in the RTGS$ and the skyrocketing prices of goods and services.
The traditional leaders also reminded President Mnangagwa that most workers are being paid insulting salaries and called on the government to intervene.
The chiefs further noted the drought experienced last season, that it will result in severe malnutrition on the part of children.