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Mr David Chapfika

Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development failed to conduct a public hearing on the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill in Victoria Falls yesterday as residents snubbed it.

Residents claimed they were not aware of the meeting and accused the committee of failing to publicise the event.

The committee led Mr David Chapfika, who is also the legislator for Mutoko South, arrived at Chinotimba Community Hall on time for the meeting, which had been set for 10AM and left after 11AM without conducting the meeting after only three residents turned up.

The Victoria Falls Combined Residents’ Association (Vifacora) sent messages on WhatsApp informing residents but it was late for people to attend. In an interview, Vifacora chairman, Mr Morgen Dube, said residents were not aware of the meeting.

“It was by default that some of us were there. The Parliamentarians came expecting to meet people but none of our residents knew about this meeting. I asked them why they would drive all the way and spend money on a programme that was never communicated but their response was vague. We wonder how they expected to find people when they didn’t communicate,” said Mr Dube.

The public hearings were, however, publicised in the press. Mr Dube said Parliament should use local structures because many people do not have access to newspapers.

“To me whether its negligence or ignorance is immaterial. It has taken away the opportunity from Victoria Falls residents to participate in a national issue that is so topical. I think they don’t care and this gives us the answer as to why our economy has plunged deeper because people don’t care about spending money without giving a thought. We can conclude that they are on holiday and this is money that has been wasted unnecessarily,” he fumed.

“There has to be communication through the local authority and residents association. We are a social organ of Government and we have mechanisms to communicate with people but none of these communication channels were used. The general feeling is that we are treated as secondary citizens and not taken seriously yet we are the cash cow of the country in terms of tourism.”

Mr Chapfika expressed shock that people were not aware of the meeting saying his committee had also communicated via the Minister of State for Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs, Cain Mathema’s office.

“We used radio, TV and newspapers to inform people about the meetings. Parliament also wrote to the resident minister’s office and provincial administrator’s office about the meeting,” he said.

Today the committee will conduct a hearing at a hotel in Bulawayo at 2PM before proceeding to Masvingo tomorrow for another meeting at 2PM. On Thursday and Friday the committee will meet residents in Mutare and Harare at 2PM. The Bill is meant to curb money laundering and plug mineral leakages in the country.

Recently, Government said it was fast tracking the finalisation of the Bill by urgently addressing its short comings as pointed out by the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) through a peer review procedure. Zimbabwe is a founding member of the ESAAMLG, an 18-member regional body dedicated to fighting cross border illicit flow of funds, terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The peer review body identified areas where the country’s laws and institutional arrangement needed to be urgently adjusted to comply with the 40 financial action task force recommendations. The Bill is expected to empower the nation to deal with money laundering by strengthening the financial intelligence unit of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe through giving it autonomy to effectively combat the vice.

Promulgation of the proposed law is consistent with Government under President Mnangagwa’s thrust to ensure zero tolerance for corruption, as it moves to quickly turn around the fortunes of the economy.

@ncubeleon