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WE applaud the victorious Zanu-PF party and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono for clarifying the issue concerning the reintroduction of the Zimbabwe dollar by assuring the Zimbabwean populace and the economy that there were no immediate plans to bring back our local currency. The party, which has just recorded a resounding victory in the harmonised elections, and the RBZ supremo have moved quickly to quell speculation that now that Zanu-PF will be the sole governing party in the country, the Zimbabwe dollar will be reintroduced immediately.
The Zanu-PF government introduced the use of multiple foreign currencies on 29 January 2009, two weeks before the inclusive government came into being on 13 February 2009, after the local currency had been rendered worthless by sanctions-induced hyper-inflation.
During the life of the just buried inclusive government, the MDC-T has been trying to claim credit for the idea of using multiple foreign currencies, which have breathed some measure of stability in our economy to the extent that it has recorded some growth.
Even during the campaigns for the 31 July harmonised elections, the MDC-T and its leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai dismally attempted to gain mileage using the Zimbabwe dollar by claiming that if the electorate voted Zanu-PF and President Mugabe into office, they will be doomed because the local currency would be brought back into use.
This followed President Mugabe’s remarks at the launch of the Zanu-PF manifesto at Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, Harare, that he had tasked Dr Gono to look into the modalities of how the Zimbabwe dollar could be re-introduced in the future backed by the country’s gold reserves.
This was misconstrued as a plan to immediately re-introduce the Zimbabwe dollar once the President and Zanu-PF won the elections.
And following the crushing defeat of the MDC-T in last Wednesday’s crucial polls, prophets of doom among them the private media, opposition forces and other naysayers went into overdrive speculating and lying to the people and the market that the Zimbabwe dollar was about to be brought back into use.
Stung by President Mugabe and Zanu-PF’s landslide, the ill-wishers have been scratching their backs to find any negatives to dampen the spirits of the majority of Zimbabwean voters who overwhelmingly voted for the revolutionary party as well as inflict more misery on opposition supporters to whip their emotions.
We applaud Zanu-PF and Dr Gono for acting fast to dispel the rumour mongers’ gospel of calamity.
“This statement serves to emphatically dismiss those rumours and to confirm that there are no plans whatsoever, within and outside the Bank (RBZ), for the immediate or near term introduction of new currency or the reintroduction of the Zimbabwean dollar into our system,” Dr Gono said.
The RBZ chief also explained that President Mugabe had made it clear at his Press conference at State House on the eve of the elections last Tuesday that the Government would be cautious and gradual about reintroducing the local currency.
Zanu-PF national spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo also dismissed the rumours saying they were a deliberate attempt to misinterpret, misrepresent or distort the party’s position on the reintroduction of the local currency.
“Rumours circulating around to the effect that the local currency will be reintroduced with immediate effect are false. It is a calculated move to confuse the public and create despondency among our people,” Cde Gumbo said.
That is what winners do, that is the mark of winners.
They join the race and move ahead of the pack. They should never shy away from taking the lead or charge of situations. You have the people’s mandate and there is no reason to fold your arms and let merchants of catastrophe run with their alarmist stories.
Never give them a chance, they should stay in their doldrums licking their wounds following the trouncing you gave them.
Online Reporter