National Patriotic Front (NPF) spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire says President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Government does not serve the interests of the public after Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s proposal in the 2024 National Budget to introduce new taxes.
Posting on X, Mawarire said the proposal to introduce a wealth tax is “silly”, adding the Government should find science-based solutions to challenges faced by Zimbabweans instead of making life harder for them. He said:
If our government and its officers like Mthuli Ncube sought to “serve the interests of the public” and govern the country for the people, we were NEVER going to have absurd proposals to increase taxes on our impoverished citizens, instead, we were going to witness moves that reduced the burden of over-taxation on our poor citizens.
If @edmnangagwa wanted to govern the country “for the people”, silly proposals to reintroduce colonial hut taxes by different names, would never have been entertained.
What a people-centric presidency would have done was to advance policies which seek to develop the country scientifically, providing science-based solutions to our current problems rather than compounding our troubles through anti-people policies.
A president who serves the people would have taken President Xi’s 14th principle, “crackdown on corruption with zero tolerance” rather than promoting & being at the centre of it.
If we are looking East, we certainly should be copying some of the principles that are aimed at growing China into a “world player”.
It’s never bad to learn from others & the growth of the Chinese economy in the last 2 decades cannot be ignored.
Ncube said the wealth tax will be levied at a rate of 1% of market values of residential properties with a minimum value of US$100 000.
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