Mthuli Ncube’s ‘anti-people’ budget favours security sector over health

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration is once again being questioned on how it establishes its priorities following the release of Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s 2024 budget which is mainly supporting the security sector more than the struggling health systems of the country.

Ncube on Thursday announced in the National Assembly, a ZWL 60 trillion budget for 2024. But he allocated a paltry ZWL6,311,893.76 towards health, breaching the 2001, Abuja Declaration which states that member countries are supposed to allocate 15% of their budget each year to the health sector.

The Office of the President and Cabinet was allocated ZWL2,157,038.63. Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage was given ZWL3,931,884.37. Defense Ministry received ZWL3,637,636.66. All these departments form the security sector.

The Minister said the current account is expected to close the year 2023 in a surplus position of US$244.4 million, slightly lower compared to US$305 million registered in 2022. In 2024, the current account surplus is projected to narrow to US$204.5 million.

To year end, revenue collections are projected at ZWL21.2 trillion, against projected expenditures of ZWL22.6 trillion, comprising compensation of employees ZWL10.9 trillion, use of goods and services ZWL4.7 trillion and capital expenditure of ZWL4 trillion.

Commenting on Ncube’s budget, Mt Pleasant MP Fadzayi Mahere slammed the ministry’s decision to allocate more money towards the security sector.

“Security Services have been allocated more than Health, Agriculture or Primary and Secondary Education. This Govt values guns more than equipping hospitals, improving schools or feeding the nation,” she said.

“Public Health and Public Education have been allocated less than that mandated in the Abuja and Dakar Declarations respectively. There’s been an acute failure to comply with international protocols that emphasize the obligation to secure basic services for the people.”

She added: “The Budget was presented in our unstable ZWL notwithstanding that the economy has largely dollarized meaning that it’s a tabulation of figures that will be meaningless by the end of 2024 when these amounts are eroded by inflation.

“A new top up tax will be introduced for MNCs. Nothing was said about failed allocations from the previous budget. There will be more of the same when it comes to broken promises on allocation.”

Mahere said the budget “is anti-people, anti-investment and anti-poor. Little has been out in place to stimulate growth, improve productivity, improve employment, ensure currency stability, address the exchange rate disparities, address the debt crisis or enhance confidence.

“It’s a mess.

“We will raise our voices on these and all issues of importance to the citizens. A pro-people budget is not a matter of rhetoric but a pre-requisite to ensure we begin to put in place measures to fix the broken economy.”

Political and economic commentator Pride Mkono said the budget failed to address the challenges facing the economy.

“Budget is a piece of hot-air in Mthuli’s make believe world. It fails to address important questions facing the economy:

“Low wages in general and public wages in particular which translate to low aggregate demand.

“Limited gross capital formation and investment on manufacturing sector to grow jobs,” he said.

Mkono further castigated low allocations to public goods like education, health and water and sanitation.

“Thus the poor will continue to lack access and medieval diseases like cholera will continue to haunt us for the foreseeable future.

“The talk of surplus therefore makes no sense rather than as a miserly attempt to hoodwink creditors that the country has capacity to service it’s debt.

“The country has no capacity to service the ever balloon debt and s only happening by squeezing the poor and vulnerable through denial of basic services. The budget seeks to tax the poor to death while celebrating ledger balances,” he said.