Reject bond notes – civil society groups

Source: Reject bond notes – civil society groups – NewZimbabwe 31/05/2016

MORE than 50 civic organisations, church groups and political parties under the banner of the Zimbabwe National Agreement Platform (ZINAP) have called on Zimbabweans to reject the proposed bond notes which the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said it would launch in August.

Addressing a press conference in Harare Monday, ZINAP spokesperson, Bishop Ancelimo Magaya, said the Zanu PF government wanted to re-introduce the Zimbabwe Dollar which they would print to fund their 2018 election campaign and urged citizens to take to the streets in protest.

“ZINAP makes a fundamental call for Zimbabweans to get into the streets to reject the bond notes. We will reject the bond notes the same way we rejected the bearer cheques and the national pledge and we are convinced that with mobolisation, the people will reject these bond notes,” he said.

Magaya said the cash shortages in the country were a result of crises of legitimacy and lack of confidence in the banking sector.

“We are returning to the stressing economy of 2008 because of the illegitimacy of the 2013 elections. This is a political crisis which requires a political solution,” Magaya said.

He said the ruling Zanu PF party was not able to fix the economy, which continues to slide rapidly, while those in power spent their energies referring to the liberation struggle.

“Zanu PF has yielded to economic challenges and the decision to print bond notes will not help anyone but the political leaders. There is no positive to bond notes and we are certain they are externalising their money. They are making massive withdrawals to relocate their wealth outside the country,” he said.

Magaya said several attempts to impress on the Reserve Bank Governor, John Mangudya, and Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa to shelve the idea had proven fruitless.

“We deployed our members to engage the governor on this matter but there has been no satisfaction, their response has always been that it is the only way to solve the current liquidity crunch. The governor has never been independent,” he said.

Chinamasa told a public discussion in Harare earlier this month that the government would not shelve the idea despite resistance from several organisations, arguing it was the only way to bring stability to the country’s economy.