By Rutendo Jiri
MDC Alliance Vice leader, Tendai Biti’s ‘State of the Economy Address’ which he delivered Tuesday at SAPES Trust offices has been roundly described as monotonous and uninspiring.
Biti’s address was interjected by alleged ZANU PF activists who bemoaned his aversion of the contentious issue of sanctions by narrowly focusing on blaming ZANU PF for the economic challenges the country is facing while exonerating the opposition.
Biti continued with his monotonous ‘Zimbabwe in crisis’ narrative and alleged that he country was facing a legitimacy crisis.
He conveniently turned a blind eye to the leadership crisis crippling the MDC A when party president Nelson Chamisa usurped power after the death of former MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai in February 2017.
Since its formation in 1999, the MDC was splintered into factions by power hungry leaders, Biti included. Today, the Chamisa led MDC A lacks legitimacy and is exponentially decreasing in popularity.
Biti made presumptuous allegations that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is rigging the economy through money printing and manipulation of the forex market, but economic experts have long refuted the possibility of the RBZ rigging the forex market.
A member of the RBZ Monetary Policy Committee, Eddie Cross, once reminded Biti, that the forex auction system cannot be manipulated because the adjudication process is quite transparent.
“The forex auction system cannot be manipulated because of a number of control mechanisms put in place. For example, the committee’s multi-stakeholder approach guards against unilateral decisions making the whole process transparent. The system is transparent on account of the very people who oversee it,” said Cross.
The tired narrative by Biti is in line with their kudira jecha mantra which seeks to soil the noblest of Government policies.
“The opposition is bent on kudira jecha everything Government does to serve their power hungry interests and present themselves as the saviours of the economy which explains why Biti had nothing positive to say about the new dispensations,” said James Ziki, a Political analyst.
Biti’s damning presentation on the state of the country’s economy blamed everything on ZANU PF exonerating the opposition from any wrongdoing when Zimbabweans are aware of their role in the imposition of illegal sanctions and their continued stay on Zimbabwe.
Biti made frivolous claims that Zimbabwe’s inflation was the highest in the World, second to Venezuela.
He bemoaned the fact that while shops are full of goods and commodities, ordinary citizens cannot afford them.
Zimbabwe under the new dispensation has witnessed tremendous economic stability, the forex rate has stabilized for some time, shops are full of affordable goods and the country even has money to invest in infrastructure development such as roads construction and rehabilitation.
