MPs want new vehicles every year

MPs want new vehicles every year

14/09/2010 00:00:00 by Lebo Nkatazo

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MEMBERS of Parliament are demanding FIVE vehicles each, one every year, for the duration of their five-year terms.

 
 

The shock demand is being pushed by Parliament's Welfare Committee.

MPs are normally provided soft loans to acquire vehicles for use in constituency business – but the cash-strapped government found itself unable to fulfil that commitment after the 2008 elections. MPs queued up to borrow vehicles from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which they are refusing to return.

Uzumba MP Simba Mudarikwa [Zanu PF], a member of the Welfare Committee, says vehicles bought by MPs under the parliamentary vehicle loan facility are "not worth using" after a year because of heavy use.

"We are actually recommending that MPs get motor vehicles every year, especially those in the rural areas because there is a lot of travelling to and from Parliament and within our constituencies," Mudarikwa said.

He claimed MPs exceeded 200,000km a year in road travel, adding: "Once a vehicle reaches that mileage, it's no longer worth using."

The Welfare Committee is chaired by Mberengwa East MP Makhosini Hlongwane [Zanu PF] and has among its members the Bulawayo East MP Thabitha Khumalo [MDC-T].

The latest demands by MPs will anger voters and thousands of public sector workers who have endured pay cuts as the year-old unity government battles to pull the country out of a decade-long economic crisis.

NewZimbabwe.com

Mujuru wants Zim to adopt Yuan

Mujuru wants Zim to adopt Yuan

06/09/2010 00:00:00 by Staff Reporter

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Currency ... Vice President Joice Mujuru

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VICE President Joice Mujuru said Monday that Zimbabwe should consider adopting the Chinese Yuan, in line with the country's policy of using multiple currencies to tackle hyperinflation.

Mujuru said China is now Zimbabwe's biggest trading partner, with the Asian giant absorbing most of the country's mineral and agricultural produce.

"Adopting the Chinese Yuan would be a logical step and could help solve some of the country's liquidity constraints," Mujuru was quoted as saying by South Africa's 702 Talk Radio.

The multiple currency regime announced in January 2009 has been fraught with difficulties. Retailers are supposed to accept the Euro and the British Pound but those two currencies have never caught on, with most transactions being conducted in United States dollars, the South African rand and the Botswana Pula.

Shops have also struggled with change, forcing Finance Minister Tendai Biti to announce plans to import foreign smaller denomination notes and coins. Retailers have resorted to asking shoppers to take other goods in lieu of their change.

In some cases shoppers are given a "credit note" instead of their change when buying goods. The credit note can be redeemed for more goods later but only in the same shop.

Recent reports claimed some people had taken to washing dirty US$1 bills, worn-out from over-use to improve their appearance.

With the export sector still trying to recover from a decade-long economic crisis and the hoped-for windfalls from foreign donors not materialising, Zimbabwe has been hit by a liquidity crisis.

Finance Minister Biti last week said the multiple currency regime would remain in place until 2012 when ministers hope it would be replaced by a single currency for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

 

NewZimbabwe.com

I wonder when we will start having competent and knowledgeable leaders in our country. People that will understand and appreciate simple economics!