Last week the Zimbabwe Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development Magna Mudyiwa made a startling comment in both the Senate and National Assembly to the effect that she was neither aware of the extent of service stations illegally selling fuel in foreign currency – outside the ‘few’ licenced to do so – nor did she have any first-hand knowledge of the price of this precious, but scarce, commodity in United States Dollars (USD).
As the People’s party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) views these comments with the skepticism they surely deserve.
This is a whole Cabinet Minister, yet purports to be ignorant of the most basic aspects of her portfolio – leading us to understandably conclude that this is just an extension of her administration’s dubious attempts to protect their cartel allies – who have been unfairly benefiting from generous advantages, at the expense of other players in the industry – resulting, in the significant suffering of the majority of the country’s citizenry, who have had to bear the brunt of incessant fuel shortages and price increases.
Surely, how can the regime fail to know the magnitude of service stations illegally selling fuel in foreign currency – in spite of numerous reports being publicly made to this effect?
Would it not had been common sense for a caring administration to have had urgently instituted investigations into these sordid activities?
Is this illegitimate regime so ill-equipped that it would not have been able to carry out a simple go-around all service stations, especially in the capital city of Harare, to ascertain which company was charging what, and if they were licenced to do so?
Similarly, would it have been too much to establish a ‘hotline’ for consumers to report any service stations that would have been charging in foreign currency, so that those in authority could check of the company had the necessary authorization?
Surely, the regime is playing dangerous games with the people of Zimbabwe, and the economy at large.
If the Deputy Minister alleges that “there are only a few companies licenced to sell fuel in foreign currency, in order to cater for those in the diplomatic corps, and non-governmental organizations (NGO)” – yet, the generality of the population was well aware that the majority of outlets were demanding payments in hard currency, should we not be witnessing significant seriousness on the part of the administration in investigating this criminality?
This administration has been on record loudly touting the gospel of “zero tolerance to corruption”, and encouraging whistle-blowers to come forward with reports of such nefarious activities – but, when a large number of Zimbabweans make such reports, including members of parliament – the powers-that-be appear worryingly indifferent.
Let us not forget that this was not the first time the Deputy Minister had made such outrageous remarks – as she had also shocked members of the House of Assembly a few days earlier.
What are we, then, to make of all this apparent lackluster reaction in dealing with these wayward fuel companies?
The long and short of it is that, these allegations are being made against the usual suspected fuel cartels, who have long had the backing and shielding of the establishment – through its close links to the ruling elite – whereby, they also dominate foreign currency allocations from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), and were recently suspiciously awarded licences to sell the commodity in foreign currency, although only for “very few” of their outlets, whilst the rest traded in the local currency.
However, based on these accusations in the public domain, those “very few” outlets have not been limited to ” very few” at all, but have transcended virtually the majority of fuel stations across the country.
It would, thus, be safe to conclude that the reluctance by those in authority to investigate, and institute appropriate action, is a continuation of its protection and advancement of these cartels – whilst, the nation suffers, as can not afford the foreign currency demanded to purchase this product.
The illegitimate regime has clearly shown that it cares more about lining the pockets of their cartel allies, at the expense of the generality of the population,who have had to endure untold suffering at the hands of economic problems caused by the same regime’s inconsistent, incoherent, and incompetent policies, on top of unfettered and unlimited corruption.
As the People’s party, the MDC demands immediate action by this regime to take significant and meaningful action against these cartels, as the continued over-burdening of the country’s citizenry has reached boiling point – and, as the adage goes, “a hungry man (or woman) is an angry man (or woman).
They have been warned!
Jasmine Toffa
MDC Secretary for Energy and Power Development