Citizens’ Cabinet Weekly Bulletin: 4/2021

COVID-19 Response & Social Protection Fund

We note the spiraling rate of COVID-19 infections in the country and appreciate the need for the government of Zimbabwe to come up with measures to curb it. However,in doing so, the government must be innovative and people centered. In this regard, we reiterate our demand for an inclusive consultative approach in dealing with the COVID-19 scourge. The government must constantly and consistently consult the business community, community leaders, public health experts, education practitioners and civil society leaders to develop well-informed responses.

Cartels and Illicit Financial Flows

We are deeply concerned about the exposé on the operations of SOTIC in a recent report by The Sentry titled Shadows and Shell Games: Uncovering an Offshore Business Empire in Zimbabwe. What is most worrying is that at a time when the country’s economy is bleeding, the report suggests illicit financial outflows at a massive scale. This includes the use of secrecy jurisdictions such as Mauritius, Cayman Islands, Switzerland,etc. to conceal revenues that ordinarily should be taxed by public revenue authorities.

Eswatini Solidarity

Finally, we unequivocally condemn the brutal slaughter of innocent citizens by the Eswatini security forces in the wake of pro-democracy protests. To date dozens of people have been killed in a vicious crackdown against activists whose only crime is to call for democracy in the country. We extend our solidarity with and echo the voices of Eswatini civil society who have called for principled action from SADC to reign in the monarch and an inclusive national dialogue as the only viable way out of the crisis.Further, we call for those involved in the killings of innocent citizens to be held accountable for their actions.

Read the full Citizens’ Cabinet here (235KB PDF)

Source: Citizens’ Manifesto

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