MDC-T  expresses solidarity with cross-border traders, calls on government to lift  ban on import of basic goods

The Movement for Democratic Change has expressed solidarity with cross-border traders who have been protesting at Beitbridge Border post over the import ban of basic goods saying the traders are simply fighting for their own survival and has called the government to lift the import ban.

Cross-border traders went on a rampage yesterday destroying property including the warehouse of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority protesting against the ban on the importation of basic goods like food, furniture and building material without a licence.

The ban is aimed at curbing foreign currency outflows and to encourage Zimbabweans to buy local products and thus increase money circulation within the country.

Zimbabwe is currently facing an acute cash crisis which has forced banks to impose strict cash withdrawal limits.

The MDC-T said the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front had bungled in a very big way when it imposed the ban on the importation of basic goods and commodities.

“It is a notorious fact that more than 85% of Zimbabweans survive within the informal sector largely because industries and factories have since been closed following upon decades of ZANU- PF misrule, unprecedented corruption and rampant mismanagement of the economy,” MDC-T spokesman Obert Gutu said in a statement today.

“Millions of Zimbabweans have been reduced to vendors and cross-border traders in order to eke out a living. The ZANU-PF regime shouldn't have imposed a blanket ban on the importation of basic goods.

“A blanket ban on the importation of basic goods would almost invariably invite retaliatory measures as has been evidenced by the demonstrations that took place at Beitbridge border post on Friday, July 1, 2016.

“The MDC stands in solidarity with cross-border traders and transporters who are simply fighting for their livelihoods. We call upon the ZANU- PF regime to immediately lift the blanket ban on the importation of basic goods and commodities.”

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