President Emmerson Mnangagwa will on Wednesday next week deliver a state of the nation address (SONA).
This was revealed by Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda in an Extraordinary Government Gazette on Friday. Reads the notice:
It is hereby notified, for public information, that His Excellency, The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Honourable Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa will — (a) in terms of section 140(1) of the Constitution, address a joint sitting of the Senate and the National Assembly on Wednesday October 2, 2024, at 1400 hours, during which he will set out the Government’s legislative agenda for the Second Session of the Tenth Parliament; and (b) in terms of section 140(4) of the Constitution, deliver the State of the Nation Address.
The State of the Nation Address comes at a time when the economic environment is deteriorating, marked by rising prices, the devaluation of the local currency, and ongoing electricity shortages.
On Friday, September 27, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) adjusted the ZiG exchange rate from 14.1 ZiG per dollar to 24.3 ZiG per dollar.
This decision has sparked outrage among Zimbabweans, including those affiliated with the ruling ZANU PF party, who have condemned the move.
Kudzai Mutisi, a ZANU PF sympathiser and economic commentator, argued that the government’s understanding of “gold backing” was flawed, saying merely holding reserves without deploying them to stabilise the currency was ineffective. He tweeted:
Filling a vault with gold and saying it’s backing a currency won’t create stability.
Matigari aptly summarised, “We must be honest with ourselves on the predicament of the ZiG… This is playing with people’s lives.”
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