THE recently presented 2024 budget by Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion minister Mthuli Ncube has left Zimbabweans in shock.
This is the worst budget ever produced by a Finance minister since independence.
It has shown that the country currently does not have sound leadership, but a well-organised and oiled looting syndicate which is always ready to pounce on the vulnerable and marginalised people in the society.
According to economics, there is no country which has developed through heavily taxing its people.
It is very important for the country to strike a balance between taxation and economic growth.
We all know that one of the primary causes of the first Chimurenga was the introduction of the Hut Tax — a tax imposed by colonial authorities on dwellings or households.
Today in Ncube’s budget, we are witnessing the same modus operandi.
The “Mansion Tax” must be resisted and rejected. This is daylight robbery.
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This budget leaves a lot of already burdened consumers scrounging for leftovers.
It actually pushes the majority who are swimming in poverty to the deep end of economic quagmire. The 2024 budget is a scam.
A lot of people in Zimbabwe are already struggling due to poor economic performance and to add salt to injury, the government sees it fit to punish the same economically-bruised citizens.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is no different from that of Malawi’s Lazarus Chakwera.
The young people are not employed and cannot get jobs. The only option is to leave the country.
Ncube and his accomplices saw an opportunity to raise the passport fee from US$120 to US$200, which is so ridiculous.
They want to capitalise on massive exodus of the people who are leaving the country in droves by charging them exorbitant passport fees.
The increases in tollgate fees, passport fees, levy on sugar contained in beverages, vehicle registration, fuel levy are just insane and unnecessary.
In other words, the government has failed to create economic zones to boost its economic purse.
Recently, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya said publicly that Zimbabwe had totally failed to attract foreign direct investment and is now focusing on locals to raise money.
In the next five years, most Zimbabweans will be poorer than before.
People have been squeezed like the residual toothpaste in a tube when one wants to brush their teeth.
It is really criminal to celebrate this budget.
The mistake Zimbabweans made in November 2017 was to allow the inexperienced Mamvura to drive the bus.
Next time, do not allow Mamvura to drive the bus again because all the passengers will be killed in a road traffic accident due to poor driving skills. - Leonard Koni
