MUTARE- An opposition Member of Parliament has called for adoption of a legislation that tackles widening inequalities, brutally exposed by impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mabvuku-Tafara MP James Chidakwa, in an exclusive interview with 263Chat, said since economic policies have failed to close inequalities, government should consider adopting an Act of Parliament to ring-fence revenue expenditure for public services.
“There is need for Zimbabwe to urgently draft a law to address the growing levels of inequality, I will personally champion such a proposal when we are back in session. We need a legislative tool to fight inequality because it is acknowledged by our policies, it’s there and we need to fight it.
“Having a progressive law which fully addresses all facets of inequalities is long overdue. Austerity policies put pressure on the poor citizenry, so we now need to focus on providing adequate social protection. We have to protect the vulnerable at law. Its urgent work that is hanging only because Parliament has been adjournment.
“The adjournment is also a matter of concern because without Parliament the Executive has a leeway to implement policies without being accountable to citizens, through their elected representatives, the MPs,” said Chidhakwa.
Impacts of COVID 19 are not only fueling inequalities, but will potentially wipe away up to 10 years of development progress in Africa according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2021 ‘Regional economic outlook for Africa’. Sub-Sahara African economies- which contracted by 3% in 2020, a 5.3% drop in real per capita income- have been pegged back to 2013 per capita incomes levels.
Regional growth is poised to modestly recover by 3.1 % – full economic recovery anticipated around 2023, as the IMF persistently nudges economies towards austerity measures, ostensibly for fiscal consolidation, ‘consistent with debt sustainability and resume structural reforms.’
“There are of course huge inequalities both between and within countries, with half of the people drinking water from unprotected sources living in sub-Saharan Africa and 80% of them living in rural areas.
“COVID-19 is likely to cause the first increase in global poverty since 1998… At the same time, income inequality is expected to increase, as lockdowns disproportionally affected informal sector workers and small- and medium-sized companies in the services sectors.
“The region faces a financing gap—the part of financing needs for which funds remain unidentified and might not materialize— that has the potential to vary between $130 billion and $410 billion for 2020–23 under different scenarios, with a central scenario estimate of $290 billion,” reads part of the outlook.
Civic society benchmarks the region’s development indicators against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which favor inclusive policy formulation processes to close widening inequality gaps.
A socio-economic justice coalition, Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), scoffs at IMF austerity recommendations, instead calling for review of regressive taxa regimes to curb Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs).
ZIMCODD in findings of the study, ‘The Economy we want’ said austerity policies, were designed by technocrats without consultation, have disenfranchised ordinary citizens.
“The government cannot talk about ‘Austerity for Prosperity’ while it is buying expensive cars for ministers and members of parliament…the economic policies do not speak to or address citizens’ realities. The austerity for prosperity mantra has actually worsened citizens’ day to day plight as a result of eroded income,” read part of the report.
Austerity policies prey on society’s vulnerable, according to a global report by Action Aid ‘Who cares for the future: Finance gender responsive public services’, which spotlights gendered inequality and disproportionate share of unpaid care work borne by women.
Action Aid calls for strategic policies interventions, investments in public services, Gender Responsive Public Services (GRPS) increased spending on education, early childcare, health, water and social protection.
“It is time for developing country governments to resist the worst excesses of IMF advice and to listen to their own citizens. Countries can find greater fiscal space than the present economic fundamentalism permits,” read part of the report.
IMF’s structural adjacent programs are linked to emergent debt distress crisis which limits development finance, negatively affecting mobilisation of expanded tax revenue to finance public services.
“When public services are underfunded or cut there is a disproportionate impact on women. When governments cut or fail to adequately finance public services, it is women who are left to take on a larger proportion of time-consuming responsibilities…..
“In many countries public services have been chronically underfunded since the onset of the IMF’s structural adjustment programmes in the 1980,” read part of the report.
