Kumbirai Mafunda
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
February 22, 2004
A local debt cancellation lobby group, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) has called for an immediate audit of the national debt stock to establish its extent.

President Robert Mugabe’s government has, over the years, been reluctant to publicise Zimbabwe’s total debt stock opting only to disclose domestic debt through the Reserve Bank’s weekly bulletins. However, government has remained tight-lipped on parastatal, foreign and the country’s total debt.

Zimcodd chairperson Jonah Gokova whose organisation has since 2000 been campaigning for debt cancellation said Harare’s foreign debt alone is in the shocking region of US$6 billion and surging upwards as Zimbabwe is failing service her debts.

Gokova said it is imperative especially now to scrutinise all debts given the developments in the financial sector. The financial sector is in turmoil with most financial institutions failing to honour their commitments and failing to pay investors funds upon demand.

Owing to a gnawing foreign currency squeeze brought about by Zanu PF’s populist and ill conceived policies exports have been tumbling relentlessly. Gokova said his organisation is concerned about how Zimbabwe’s huge debt will be terminated.

“As an economic justice movement, at Zimcodd we doubt that justice will be delivered without answering the question of mobilising national resources, accountability and corruption,” said Gokova.

Gokova who is also chairman of the Zimbabwe Social Forum (ZSF) challenged the MDC through its 54 parliamentarians who sit in the various parliamentary committees such as Public Accounts, Budget Finance and Economic Development and Parastatals to move a motion in parliament on the instantaneous audit of the national debt.

“We demand that a motion be tabled in parliament for an immediate audit of the national debt. This is a demand that seeks to establish the nature and extent of Zimbabwe’s debt stock. Who borrowed what, when, and who benefited. We need to know who is paying what; or is it the tax payer,” said Gokova.

“It is only after we go through this exercise that illegitimate debts can be verified and therefore repudiated to unlock critical resources to go to critical areas like education, health and public services. After all, the refusal for a country to repay illegitimate therefore odious debts is as much a moral issue as it is legal one under international law,” he added.

In its 2002 annual report the central bank reported that Zimbabwe’s total external debt disbursed and outstanding including arrears increased from US$3 570 million in 2001 to US$3 733 million in 2002 representing an increase of 4,6%. By then domestic debt stood at $328 billion way down from its current levels of $900 billion.

Of the total external debt government remained the major borrower accounting for 65% of the total debt in 2002. Parastatals collectively accounted for 28% while the private sector accounted for 7%

The central bank said the continued accumulation of arrears is a postponement of the underlying problem, as these debts will have to be paid. “A sustainable solution to the country’s problems requires that the country increase exports. Short of this, the country will continue to accumulate arrears by way of financing its balance of payments,” the central bank said in its report.

According to the RBZ, severe foreign currency shortages resulted in a build up of external payment arrears to over US$1,3 billion adversely impacting on the country’s creditworthiness.

According to RESTART, which is the MDC’s economic policy blueprint, the MDC will carry out an audit of the national debt with a view to repudiating all odious debt and negotiating a rational repayment schedule for the remainder. RESTART is an acronym for Reconstruction, Stabilisation, Recovery and Transformation.

“. . . MDC will instigate a thorough audit of the true extent of the national debt (including arrears) its structure and the timing of payments due. Particular attention will be paid to elements that are ‘odious’ that is contracted by an illegitimate government and for which there is no moral imperative to repay.”

Zimcodd, Gokova said, hails the opposition MDC’s economic blueprint launched in Harare last month by MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai spelling out the opposition party’s industrialisation strategy and how it intends to sew up Zimbabwe’s tattered economy.

“We hope the launch of RESTART answers the need for left leaning social democratic values. From the few paragraphs I have gone through this commitment is there in RESTART but there is need to radicalise the implementation of the contents,” Gokova said.