It is important to highlight that Zimbabweans led the adoption of the US dollar between 2008 and 2009.
The government had no option but to just make it official in 2009.
Even though at that time, there were few reserves of the US dollar, there was never a cash crisis in Zimbabwe.
During the tenure of the “government of national unity”, there was never a cash crisis.
It was when ZANU-PF engineered its “victory” in 2013 and took sole control of government that the bottom of the can came off.
Its policies saw a massive drain on foreign exchange and cash in the market, something never experienced during the GNU.
Between 2013 to 2015, the books which previously somehow balanced started treading in the red.
Chinamasa started running budget deficits, which have now started worrying international lenders.
Not only did they mess up with the books, but they increased their own salaries, with Mugabe notably increasing his own salary multiple times.
It was also during the same period that the government started struggling to pay civil servants, announcing staggered salary dates every month.
It was clear then that the mud had hit the fan.
In 2015, Chinamasa, mindful of his unbalanced books, made a rather suave move announcing suspension of civil servants bonuses.
It did not take Mugabe long to give his subordinate a public smackdown, reversing that position during the 35th Independence Day celebration.
All this told me that Mangudya’s announcement on bond notes was a move resulting from political pressure.
Mugabe’s government was under the vice as the country had become a political pressure cooker.
The failure by civil servants to access their salaries was the greatest threat to Mugabe’s hold on power, more potent than the threat from our vacillating opposition.
Recall that part of the reason the ‘This Flag’-led shut down was very successful was because civil servants heeded the call and didn’t show up for work.
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