South African-based ZANU PF supporter Kudzai Mutisi has called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to dismiss Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Mthuli Ncube, along with the Ministry’s permanent secretary George Guvamatanga and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor John Mushavayanhu, for allegedly undermining the new ZiG currency.
Launched in April 2024, the ZiG was presented by the government as a “structured currency” backed by 2.5 tonnes of gold and other minerals, including diamonds. However, the value of the ZiG has steadily declined on the parallel market due to ongoing foreign currency shortages.
In a post on X, Mutisi accused the Treasury and Central Bank leaders of being “the biggest saboteurs of ZiG,” labelling them as “lazy and indecisive.” Said Mutisi:
The biggest saboteurs of ZiG are at the RBZ and Ministry of Finance, very lazy and indecisive folks… 5 months after introducing ZiG, they have done NOTHING to make it the preferred currency.
They FAILED to do the basics, it’s not enough to say it’s “gold backed”, in fact, that’s UNNECESSARY. Simple things could give ZiG a huge boost:
1. Avail larger denominations: Folks like Persistence Gwanyanya make ridiculous arguments that larger denominations create inflation YET the ZWL collapsed without them, yet there are US$100 notes circulating in Zim… Without enough ZiG cash, the US$ fills that lacuna and that’s foolishly promoting US$ use. Avail ENOUGH CASH!
2. Mthuli Ncube, in his lack of wisdom, continues to tax electronic transactions. Since there is no enough ZiG cash in circulation, people escape these punitive taxes by using US$ cash. The IMTT tax should be removed and RBZ should slash bank charges. That will be an effective way of promoting the ZiG.
3. There are still lots of USD ONLY transactions, and there is no desire to gradually reduce them… 5 months after the introduction of ZiG, there has been a gradual increase in USD-only transactions.
4. Guvamatanga and Ncube aren’t keen on demanding taxes in ZiG…. Companies have no reason to accept ZiG or look for ZiG since Treasury is more interested in collecting USD taxes…
Mutisi urged Mnangagwa to appoint competent individuals at the RBZ and the Ministry of Finance, stating, “… you can’t have PhD holders who fail to do basic things, those are toxic people undermining the country for their own personal interests.”
He contended that Ncube, Guvamatanga, and Mushayavanhu are aware of the necessary steps to promote the use of ZiG but are unwilling to act if it threatens their interests.