Movement for Democratic Change leader Nelson Chamisa today waded into the month-long doctors’ strike saying the government must pay doctors and all civil servants in foreign currency.
“GIVE DOCTORS THEIR MONEY…Pay teachers & civil servants in forex. ‘Sledgehammer’ politics always fail. It’s unwise for the powerful to use command or macho tactics to threaten skill and expertise. Give life to Doctors to save lives. Doctors can’t save lives when they have no life,” he tweeted.
Asked by Pablo T Chimusoro to explain how the government could pay civil servants in foreign currency when the same government did not have enough forex for fuel, medication and other basics, Chamisa responded: “Confidence, bankability and legitimacy of government will do it all. There is surplus money in Zimbabwe ..only that most of it is in the pockets of a few high and mighty in power. Some of it is in the informal and subterranean.”
When one of his supporters said it was time the worker started getting paid real money and not a series of figures, Chamisa replied: “Only the fake believe in fake money, fake currency and fake commerce! Genuine people use genuine currency to transact in a functional economy! God save and bless Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe has been experiencing a serious economic crisis since the beginning of October when it announced new monetary and fiscal policies which sent the bond note tumbling against the United States dollar and prices rocketing.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube who initially wanted to get rid of the bond note changed his mind and now argues that the government wants to preserve value of people savings.
Zimbabweans lost their entire savings a decade ago when the government abandoned the Zimbabwe dollar to adopt a multi-currency system.
The move, however, brought down inflation to a single digit.
Inflation has rarely its ugly heard again rising from 5.4 percent in September to 20.9 percent in October and 31 percent in November.
Although the bond note is trading at a premium to the US dollar, it seems to have stabilised at around 4:1.
When the Zimbabwe dollar was abandoned the exchange rate ran into quadrillions.
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