MUTARE– Zimbabwe already has the bulk of resources it needs to fight the COVID19 pandemic and should now focus on accountable distribution of relief funds donated by international partners, a local non-governmental organisation has said.
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) says at least US$280 million has been raised from donations to government as well as resources from fiscus, covering seventy percent of the resources needed to fight the pandemic.
Janet Zhou, ZIMCODD Executive Director told delegates during a virtual Public Finance Management Reform Indaba with participants from civil society, academia and parliament, that focus should be on enhancing accountability following publication of all donations made to government.
Zhou said from an analysis of socio economic impact of Covid, ZIMCODD developed a financial modelling costing matrix which estimated Zimbabwe needed US$385 million to fight the virus and its impacts.
Key priority areas in this response were provision of testing kits, personal protective equipment, ventilators, additional health workers and a fund for socio economic relief said Zhou.
“We did an analysis of the socio economic impact of the COVID 19 and also some kind of financial modelling in terms of the measures that have been put in place by government to estimate how much we would need to effectively respond.
“From that we estimated that government may need to raise US$388 500 million and to date as of last week government has received in donations including its own contribution, US$280 million, 71, 5 percent of what our perspective is enough,” she said.
Zhou said civil society must collaborate and build solidarity to advocate for greater transparency of public finances, not only during humanitarian crisis, which can be achieved through strong accountability institutions including parliament.
She said despite extensive public media coverage of donations there was no accountability on the management and distribution of resources received in cash and kind including the ZWL$18 billion stimulus package.
The impact of the global pandemic would transcend health and humanitarian issues and impact on the economy in diverse ways which needed robust strategies to tackle said Zhou.
“We have seen that cameras do go where resources are being received but that is not enough, we still need a bright spot on the distribution of these resources which is why we are having these Public Finance Management Indabas.
“Our government has produced an economic stimulus package of eighteen billion which is 9 percent of our GDP…we also need to start talking about that as well…where are these resources going to come from? Are we going to raise enough revenue to fund this stimulus package?
“We also need to look at the priorities of the stimulus are they the ones that we raised as citizens so that we start playing that role where we are not relegated to voters but active citizens who are exercising their citizens role,” she said.
However, Movement for Democratic Change legislator Tendai Biti said government is broke and has extended a begging bowl to the International Financial Institutions for a financial bailout, according to a leaked letter allegedly written by Minister of Finance Professor Mthuli Ncube.
Biti said focus should be on the lack of oversight role of parliament in the drafting of the stimulus package which government cannot legally perform without legislature.
He said the house assembly has not approved a supplementary budget to effect the stimulus package and members of parliament where concerned that the executive has been operating without limitations of since commencement of the lockdown.
Biti said Zimbabwe has also appealed for 2.2 billion humanitarian assistance.
“Parliament is the only body in Zimbabwe that is allowed to make law, so closing paly in a time of disaster does not make sense, parliament can meet virtually.
“Secondly, the 18 billion package where is that money coming from? Money in Zimbabwe can only come from Consolidated Revenue Fund and we as Parliament we have not approved a supplementary budget.
“We know the Minister (Finance) does not have leg room in terms of the 2020 budget that’s why he wrote his letter on the 2nd of April to the IFIs (international financial institutions) that they are so desperate even for US$200 million.
“Where is that money actually coming from physically the government is broke it does not have money…you can’t budget for hot air, where is the eighteen billion dollars, it’s not there, even ZWL$600 million up to now has not been released, and without safety nets our people will die,” said Biti.
Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Professor Paul Mavima is on record that government is yet to disburse the ZWL$600 million budgeted to cushion vulnerable members of society.
Muchaneta Mundopa of Transparency International Zimbabwe said it was lamentable that disaster has become synonymous with corruption in Zimbabwe where opaque contracting in public procurement is prevalent.
She said the country has failed to leverage lesson from previous disasters to institute reforms, align the Public Finance Management Act to the constitution and enhance transparency in public procurement.
“History repeating itself, it’s like we are bent on not reforming ourselves. One would have thought that ZACC would take a corruption risk analysis on disaster or humanitarian aid to make recommendations to government.
“The word disaster in Zimbabwe has become so synonymous with corruption,” she said.
