Sineke Sibanda
Chinese dubbed mega deals have been debunked by Elton Mangoma’s Republic Democrats of Zimbabwe, citing that these are mere double transactions, where Zimbabwe will plummet into serious debts.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital, the former minister of energy and power development in the inclusive government of 2009-2013 debunked the deals signed during Xi JinPing’s state visit arguing that the current government is exaggerating what is not there.
“Are they deals, yes some of them are, but if we are having this kind of exaggeration, to say they are mega, we lack the foresight to see what they really are and risk ending up in a debt that we don’t require as Zimbabweans.”
Mangoma also cited that the double taxation clause that sealed the Zimbabwe China deals does not in anyway benefit Zimbabweans because there is no single Zimbabwean who owns a business in China.
According to a political commentator, Malvern Mkudu, double taxation refers to a situation that prevents an investor from being taxed twice.
“However, in our case, Zimbabwe is negotiating from a point of weakness and the agreement could be skewed in favour of China because the negotiation ground is not equal. Zimbabwe is desperate for foreign direct investment, so they will probably settle for anything.” said Mkudu
Such sentiments have come aboard amidst government’s approach to sealing the deals, where the terms and conditions of the deals were a secret of the government.
Mangoma went on to ply deep into the recent budget presented by Finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa saying that it does not inspire confidence and further dampens the mood in the economy. Mangoma’s party is among other opposition parties who have ripped the 2016 budget into countless pieces citing that the budget is not balanced and reflects a deficit, which is economically unsustainable, as it will worsen the debt position of the country at present.
“There is nothing inspiring in the budget. There is nothing for the ordinary Zimbabwean,” he said. “revenues have been declining and continue to do so. 2015 saw a contraction of more than 10% from 2014. No new measures are being put in place and 2016 will contract further. There can be no growth during 2016. At best, it will be a standstill,” Mangoma added.
Unfortunately, this reporter failed to get comments from the national spokesperson, Simon Moyo and the Finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa as they phones could not be answered several times.
