By Political Reporter- By Political Reporter – Zanu PF senior member and Justice Ziyambi Ziyambi has criticized his party’s spokesperson, Chris Mutsvangwa, over the arrest of Mutsvangwa’s son on allegations of trading ZiG.
Ziyambi said that relatives and children of political heavyweights were destabilizing the exchange rates through foreign currency manipulation.
He asserted that there would be no exemptions in the government’s crackdown on those violating the Exchange Control Act.
“We have found out that those who are causing trouble [in the market] are bigwigs’ children, but this time we are not leaving perpetrators of forex manipulation because he or she is a political heavyweight’s son or daughter. We are arresting and sentencing them [if they are found on the wrong side of the law],” Ziyambi stated.
This statement comes after the arrest of Neville Mutsvangwa, the son of ZANU PF spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa and Monica Mutsvangwa, Women’s Affairs, Minister.
Neville was apprehended a fortnight ago at his Mt Pleasant home in Harare by detectives from the CID commercial crimes unit for allegedly violating the Exchange Control Act by trading in foreign currency illegally.
Neville remains in custody, awaiting his bail ruling by the High Court on Monday next week.
Sources reported to Business Times that ruling elites are acquiring cheap forex from local financial institutions and channelling it into the parallel market through their children.
One source remarked, “We have a situation whereby the majority of the top chefs’ children are in the business of illegal forex dealings, gold smuggling, and money laundering, but nothing has been done to them. With Minister Ziyambi saying the children involved in illicit deals will be dealt with, we hope there will be a change. We don’t know what the police meant when they said they want the members of the public to give them information about those supplying money changers with money when they have the databases of everyone and can access the bank accounts and information from everywhere. They are fearing to engage the real godfathers of illicit deals.”
However, some economists argue that arresting forex manipulators will not halt the depreciation of the Zimbabwe gold (ZiG) since the market lacks confidence in the new currency.