Who has destroyed the Zimbabwe dollar? Reply to Dr. Tim Rainhard – Letter from America

By Ken Mufuka

The Philistines who govern the territory of Zimbabwe have some friends in high places. From the beginning, all men of goodwill argued that the return of the Zimbabwe dollar was premature, since all the factors that led to its downfall are still there. Moreover, the Philistines who had engineered its ruin, through greed, and to some extent unforgivable ignorance of the universe, were still in situ (in their natural state, as archeologists call it).

These Philistines, now buoyed up by a compliant judiciary and a prostituted intellectual community, banked on the assumption that Zimbabweans were cowardly, forgiving and forgetful. They would make no arrangements to coral their wealth in some unreachable form, in the same way that the Philistines themselves were doing.

Dr. Rainhard confesses that every sensible Zimbabwean, fearful of repeating “the same (theft) every little penny earned is now being channeled towards buying foreign currency in order to hedge against inflation.” Mvurayanaya proposes that the saints should foolishly trust the Philistines and keep their hard-earned money in Zee dollars.

I have it on record that the chief paymaster of the Philistines, George Guvamatanga has an offshore account. Another report by a global investigative team has mentioned a Brother General Rushwaya as having an offshore account as well. In yet another example, Supreme Sister Henrietta Rushwaya was apprehended at Harare International Airport with gold bars. Her destination was Dubai. We can safely assume that had she succeeded, the proceeds of that gold would have been deposited in Dubai. We also know that the chiefs among the Philistines are paying themselves in U$ dollars.

 Brother Rainhard is asking the saints to do what the Philistine leaders are not doing. Have faith in a currency which they themselves are daily converting to safer currencies. There is nothing in the Holy Book which directs us to behave foolishly. The saints are channeling “every little penny earned…towards buying foreign currency (your words).” But Rainhard has skillfully forgotten the reason behind Philistine induced inflations, which we shall remind him.

In 1997, the tyrant Robert Mugabe awarded war veterans an emolument of Z$50 000 each without consultation with treasury or any stakeholders. Within that week, the Zimbabwe dollar dropped to Z$45 per U$1.

In 2007, Mugabe, with the help of intellectual prostitutes, issued a Z$10 million note. But we need to remind our detractors that each time the Philistines depreciated our money, they themselves had stashed their money abroad.

In addition, they boasted that since they had the judiciary in their pockets, there was no recourse. Ms Penelope Stone and her partner Richard Beatie had served U$ 142 000 at CABS. When a Reserve Bank directive, October 4, 2018, squashed their savings, they found themselves against the intellectual prostitutes of the time. Government was defended in its theft of their savings by none other than the learned Professor Lovemore Madhuku. The Acting Chief Justice, with the mastery of words that come from many years of learning and sitting in dark archival portals, said some harsh words about their appeal.

“Because the order was granted as a result of the court a quo (whatever that means) having gone on a frolic of its own, it stands to reason that no consequential relief could competently flow from it,” said Deputy Chief Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza.

A threat was embedded in the judgement. Ms. Beatie’s appeal was regarded as “frolicking” (light-hearted, having fun, often silly, romping around-Webster Dictionary). Thus, having lost her life savings, her appeal to the court was regarded as frolicking. If Ms. Beatie were to entertain any other thoughts in the matter, the court might consider some harsh action against her.

Rainhard blames some “large corporations which are making a killing from funding third party institutions to bid for foreign currency on their behalf on both small and medium enterprises and main auctions. When they eventually get to sell their products, their pass on rate is based on parallel; market rates, which are criminal.”

Rainhard is completely offshore. One of these corporations using the parallel market rate belongs to Minister Raj Modi. Modi, like any businessman, Modi is selling his goods on a speculative scale, making a hedge that the Zimbabwe dollar will lose value. Therefore, if a businessman does not take cognizance of such possibilities, he will go under. This is the basis of inflation. If he bought U$ dollars at the government auction, a 15-week delay in payment may be enough to see his business go under. If the Philistines are wise to the ways of their government, surely, the saints should take heed and do likewise.

In simple English, an honest man cannot succeed as a businessman in Zimbabwe. The contractors are not necessarily evil. There is no guarantee that after a 15-week delay they will be paid. Therefore, the law of economics is that since all business is risky, the higher the risk, the higher the uptake.  If foreign contractors are paid in useless Zee dollars, obviously, they cannot take them home to the Czech Republic or to Israel.

Why this adumbrated way of doing business is incomprehensible to Rainhard is beyond me.

The foreign contractors are not stabbing the host government in the back. They are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. They pay their kickbacks in foreign accounts.

The Vision 2030 is merely a charade, pure and simple. The foreign contractors are buccaneers. They are in cahoots with the Philistines who give them the contracts by bending the rules.

Rainhard assumes that there are two groups of actors, government actors performing a patriotic duty and advancing the common good; on the other hand, there are foreign contractors acting in good faith and taking the natives up a garden path.

No, Siree, the foreign contractors and the native rulers are acting in one accord; they have one purpose only-they are buccaneers. A buccaneer has only one purpose, to loot as much when the sun shines and go home to enjoy his retirement.

There is no remedy in sight because the system was designed to do exactly what it is doing. If the reader does not believe me, take a moment to digest this speech.

We are the government.

We are the police.

We are the judiciary.

We are everything.

Given this reality, a Zimbabwean must take personal measures to ensure that his savings are not filtered abroad. The judiciary will not entertain any frolicking and challenges to the status quo.

(Ken Mufuka is a Zimbabwean patriot. He writes from the US. His award-winning book,) Matters of Conscience (2002) has now been reprinted. His books are available from Innov Bookshops in Zimbabwe and at kenmufukabooks.com in the wider world.)