The minister of state for Manicaland province, Mandi Chimene, pleaded with locals and the business community to embrace bond notes, saying they would help burst the sanctions regime imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries.
She made these remarks while officially opening the 19th edition of the Manicaland Agricultural Show in Mutare on Friday.
“Don’t be fooled into rejecting the bond notes by certain individuals who have their own hidden agenda. Bond notes are critical for the country as they will help us to burst sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries in retaliation to the land reform programme,” said Chimene.
She added: “What will happen to us if we are to wake up one day all US$ taken”.
Government says it will soon introduce bond notes to run concurrently with the United States dollar. The Reserve Bank Governor, John Mangudya, has been struggling to convince Zimbabweans to embrace the move, saying it will ease cash shortages in the country.
But the move has been met with stiff resistance from the Zimbabweans who feel government is trying to reintroduce the “worthless” Zim dollar through the backdoor.
However, Chimene was at pains to convince the locals that bond notes, which government says will be at par with the US$, are a solution to Zimbabwe’s liquidity crisis.
“It’s a lie that the bond note is a bearers’ cheque. Those who are in favour of using the US$ are those who are smuggling bales of second hand clothes into the country. They are the same people who want to import cheap substandard agricultural products into Zimbabwe.
“We don’t even know whether such produces are healthy for our people to consume because we don’t know where they are grown,” she said.
Chimene said the bond notes will help locals to purchase goods and services without hassles.
The minister further pleaded with the locals not heed to calls to protests against government, saying organisers of such events were sell outs who were bent on causing commotion simply to line their pockets.
“Don’t be used by these people because they want to line their pockets only. If you receive a message on social media which you don’t understand please come to my office and I will explain to you,” said Chimene.
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