Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has said relatives and children of political heavyweights were the ones destabilising the exchange rates through foreign currency manipulation.
As reported by Business Times, Ziyambi said there will be no sacred cows in the government’s fight against criminals contravening the Exchange Control Act. Said Ziyambi:
We have found out that those who are causing trouble [in the market] are bigwigs’ children but this time we are not leaving perpetrators of forex manipulation because he or she is a political heavyweight’s son or daughter. We are arresting and sentencing them [if they are found on the wrong side of the law].
This follows the arrest of Neville Mutsvangwa, son of ZANU PF spokesperson, Chris and Monica Mutsvangwa, who is the Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister.
Neville was arrested a fortnight ago at his Mt Pleasant home in Harare by detectives from the CID commercial crimes unit on allegations of contravening the Exchange Control Act by illegally trading in foreign currency.
He remains in custody ahead of his bail ruling by the High Court on Monday next week.
Business Times reported sources as saying the ruling elites are taking cheap forex from local financial institutions and feeding it into the parallel market through their children. Said the source:
We have a situation whereby the majority of the top chefs’ children are in the business of illegal forex dealings, gold smuggling and money laundering but nothing has been done to them.
With Minister Ziyambi saying the children involved in illicit deals will be dealt with, we hope there will be a change.
We don’t know what the police meant when they said they want the members of the public to give them information about those supplying money changers with money when they have the databases of everyone and can access the bank accounts and information from everywhere. They are fearing to engage the real godfathers of illicit deals.
However, some economists say the arrest of forex manipulators will not stop the depreciation of the Zimbabwe gold (ZiG) as the market does not have confidence in the new currency.
