“Political noise” affecting business: Mugaga

Takudzwa Chihambakwe

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer, Christopher Mugaga says there is need for Government to address the issue of what he termed, “political noise” urgently as it is affecting business in the country.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday before the Budget and Finance Committee, Mugaga said the picture being created to foreign investors is that it is impossible to do business in Zimbabwe due to a polarized society.

“As business we won’t hide it. There is too much political noise in the country and it is impacting on business,” he said.

“When we try to market the country out there, we realise that they think there is no peace in Zimbabwe and people cannot walk in the streets.”

He said the emergence of POLAD is critical in addressing this noise.

“We are happy there is POLAD but hopefully it will be made all encompassing and include all political players in the country. The message is that those who are not part of it must also join it.”

Moving on, Mugaga said the issue of porous borders also needs to be attended to.

“Smuggling of goods is affecting business. It is one of the biggest feeders to the informal economy you are seeing today.

“These individuals are not affected by any policies that Government promulgates. It seems there is corruption at the border as some individuals are benefiting from the loopholes,” he said.

Mr Mugaga said the issue of delegated legislation is also another impediment to the ease of doing business.

“There were 258 statutory instruments issued in 2019. This is not good.

“We are not sure if Parliament is too busy to look at those policies. Surely these need to be addressed. You cannot introduce a new currency through a statutory instrument unless you want to continue killing the confidence,” lamented Mugaga.