Davison Marenga/
Patricia Makubaro
Zvishavane – Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Dr John Mangudya (pictured) said some of the laws implemented by government are hindering economic growth and blamed government for the current economic crisis in the country.
Addressing business people at the Great Dyke Business Forum at Pote Hills Lodge in Zvishavane recently, Dr Mangudya decried the implementation of the colonial laws in the new Zimbabwe as a major setback to notable economic growth and hastened to say the majority of the laws should be repealed in order to attract foreign investors.
“The problem is that we are using old instruments on a new situation, we inherited (Ian) Smith’s laws which were meant to stop blacks from making any notable development. Now that we are independent, these laws should be repealed because they were against us. We can’t be prisoners of our own laws, we need to change them so that we attract investors”, Dr Mangudya said.
He assured artisanal miners that the company’s gold trade will be decriminalised in order to improve sales to the RBZ.
“The criminalization of gold panning has led the country to lose tones of gold as ‘Makorokozas’ sell at black markets. We need to formalise artisanal mining in order to increase our production. To the miners I say don’t lose hope, even if you are arrested bring the gold to me,” Dr Mangudya said.
Zvishavane –Ngezi legislator John Holder also took a swipe at various organisations for putting in place contradicting laws which in turn affect business in various ways
“EMA, ZIMRA and Wildlife are a pain in the mining field, their laws contradict in many ways, and they need to come up with a universal law book so that miners can do their work without fear. The gold is going out of the country because the government is doing nothing to encourage artisanal miners to come with it in fact they are arrested if found in possession of gold without a license,” said Holder.news
