MDC Alliance Vice President Tendai Biti has described Information Ministry permanent secretary Nick Mangwana as “deranged” and having a “mediocre mind set” after the government official claimed that the Zimbabwean dollar’s scarcity was because of popularity.
Zimbabwe’s have struggled with the circulation of cash after reverting to the local currency towards the end of 2019.
The recent printing of cash by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has not helped matters as the money has remained scarce and inaccessible to the majority.
Enterprising individuals with connections to banks are selling the cash at an interest in exchange for transfers.
In an attempt to justify the scarcity. Mangwana claimed that the Zimbabwean dollar was “too popular.”
“The theory that the ZWL is not a popular currency is debunked by the fact that it’s so much on demand that some are prepared to buy it on the black market and in dark alleys. It’s easier to get forex from your bank than our much sought after ZWL,” said Mangwana.
First to ponce on Mangwana was journalist Nqaba Matshazi who countered, “It’s not popularity chief, it’s necessity. It’s like saying death is popular because people keep dying.”
Biti weighed in saying, “It’s the self-defeating reasoning of a deranged but very mediocre mindset that doesn’t understand the role of money as an instrument of financial mediation.” Byo24News
