Biti says Zimbabwe is suffering from fiscalitis- “tinodya mari semushonga womusana”

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order, order Hon. Member – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – [HON. WADYAJENA: Aka riga election ndiani?] –

HON. KARIKOGA:  On a point of order Madam Speaker, – [AN HON. MEMBER: Taura section!] –  We are well aware that the Hon. Member who just sat down is suffering from post – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – On a section of common sense … – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order, order Hon. Members!

HON. KARIKOGA:  On a section of common sense, Hon. Tendai Biti is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and the things that he is mentioning do not make sense. I thank you.  – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order, order Hon. Member, you can proceed with your debate but stick to the motion.

HON. BITI:  Thank you Madam Speaker, we have structural challenges in our economy.  One of the structural challenges that we have is the accumulation model. 100 years after colonialism, it is regrettable that our economy is still extractive.  We extract raw materials and sell them outside the country.  Our biggest cash crop is tobacco but we sell it in its raw form. So if you were to wake Cecil Rhodes from his grave in Matobo, he would not be confused by the accumulation model because it is still extraction – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

We have a problem Madam Speaker, our country is in a recession.  A recession is a situation in economics where the economy recedes, grows in negative terms in two successive quotas.  Since 2012, our economy has been in a recession so that effectively means that we are now in an economic depression.  It is very difficult to get into a recession, a recession is characterised by absent aggregate demand; the absence of output and excess capacity – if you go to the industries, they are not being utilised.  Excess capacity in the form of 95% of our people who are unemployed and so this is a grave situation that needs to be addressed.  A recession is a crisis of under-accumulation which is why until recently, our shops have been full of goods but Zimbabweans have been unable to afford those goods.  A recession is the opposite of what we had in 2007/08 – a crisis of hyper inflation.

What we had in 2007/08 was a crisis of over-accumulation of a situation whereby the economy had overheated and too much money was chasing few goods.  Now, Madam Speaker, to move from a crisis of over-accumulation to a recession – a crisis of under-accumulation in less than eight years is impossible as these are two extreme positions of failure.  To actually transit from a crisis of over-accumulation 2007/08 to a crisis of under-accumulation 2013 to 2018 is almost impossible.  There is only one country that has gone through those extreme phases and that is Germany in between two world wars.  Zimbabwe has achieved this without any war – it is extreme Madam Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –

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