adminMidlands Correspondent
THE government has moved to plug leakages of the country’s natural resources, especially minerals, at the country’s ports of entry, a senior official has said.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Willard Manungo, said the government had tasked law enforcement agents to work with government departments to plug revenue leakages at the country’s porous borders.
Manungo said treasury is in the process of implementing measures to strengthen public accounting systems to plug leakages of resources.
“As government we’ve taken various measures to ensure that we plug all the revenue leakages.
‘‘If we look at Zimra, they’ve instituted a toll free hotline number to try and nip some of these leakages in the bud,” he said.
“However, revenue leakages are broader and there are also other measures that we’re taking on other fronts including the leakages by way of natural resource incomes that should ordinarily be due to Zimbabwe especially gold and other precious minerals.
‘‘This is being done under the auspices of the central bank, Zimra as well as law enforcement agencies”.
Due to its marketability, portability, high demand and accessibility, gold is one of the most illegally traded and smuggled commodities in Zimbabwe.
Last year Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said up to $1,8 billion was being lost annually through smuggling, illegal dealing in gold and other precious stones, corruption, fraud, tax evasion, and externalisation, among others.
The government has instituted the National Risk Assessment Detailed Action Plan with a view to plug leakages, including gold, identified in the economy.
A report released by Zimra last year indicated that the country is losing at least $10 million monthly at the country’s borders.
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