GOVERNMENT has not cushioned vulnerable people using dividends from a US$1 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDR) windfall from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said, among other things, would be used to support those hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, The NewsHawks has established.
NATHAN GUMA
In August 2021, the IMF disbursed SDR al[1]locations of US$650 billion to help the global economy cope with the major setback caused by Covid-19 and the need to rebuild reserves. Zimbabwe as a member received its share of US$1 billion, which Ncube promised to use towards areas that have been affected by Covid-19.
“We have about US$1 billion. The idea is that the SDRs will be channelled towards areas that have been affected by Covid-19. So we will invest the SDRs in the health, agriculture, education, roads, industry and manufacturing, mining sec[1]tors, and supporting the vulnerable,” Ncube said when the money was disbursed by the IMF.
Minister Ncube wrote an article published in newZWire on 24 August 2021 revealing the money “would be used for social welfare programmes that include Cash/Food for Work Schemes that would be set up to encourage those who can work to work, whilst utilising the same schemes to support the elderly and disabled who perhaps are unable or can no longer integrate into the workforce”.
In the education sector, he said the funds would be used to build at least eight new boarding schools – building about one per rural province. The schools would be used “to deliver improved education and a better quality of life for rural children, particularly for low-income groups”.
The Herald of 24 August 2021 also reported that “some vulnerable people, whose livelihoods were devastated by Covid-19 following the imposition of lockdown measures that sought to limit movement, were to get cash transfers”.
In the agricultural sector, an Agriculture Revolving Fund would be set up to support horticulture businesses that will in turn help Zimbabwe generate more foreign currency from exports. The revolving fund would also support floriculture, which is the growing and selling of flowers, blueberries, and macadamia, among other cash crops or water culture crops.
The same promise was reiterated in the newZWire article which said that the ministry would “be investing in smallholder irrigation schemes to again support our vulnerable farmers who have been hit hard by Covid”.
However, organisations representing smallholder farmers say farmers are yet to benefit. Groups representing people heavily affected by the pandemic, including vendors, people with disabilities, farmers, small and medium enterprises, the elderly and orphans, say they have not received any cushioning from the SDRs, a year after the funds were released.
Residents’ associations which spoke to The NewsHawks say their members have not benefit[1]ted from the fund, thereby raising questions as to how the money has been used.
“In Harare there were researches around that (the IMF windfall) which were done during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Ruben Akili, acting director of the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA).
“The ones (assistance programmes) which we are aware of are the ones done by the DanChurch Aid and World Food Program (WFP). These or[1]ganisations were giving people money in their bank accounts.”
Chitungwiza, Mutare, Masvingo and Gweru residents’ initiatives, among others, said vulnerable citizens, among them the elderly, disabled and child-headed homes, had not received any money transfers from the government. They were also not enrolled for Food For Work programmes, as announced by the minister.
Mutare residents say they have lost hope in the government’s empty promises to cushion the vulnerable.
“Nothing has been done, except empty promises. We were promised by government that all the people who were affected in the informal sector and people who were failing to make ends meet were supposed to be cushioned, but nothing materialised
“Many organisations came questioning whether people had benefitted anything from previous allocations. People started gaining hope after such questions were being asked, but now, the little hope people have is slowly fading,” said David Mutambirwa, programmes director at Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Association (MRRA). In Masvingo, the story is the same.
“So far, we are not aware of any people who have benefitted because we haven’t received any[1]thing. We have not yet received any reports from any beneficiaries and we don’t even know how the process was even implemented. We just know there was a donation by the IMF, but how the funds were cascaded, we do not know,” said Godfrey Mtimba, spokesperson for Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA).
Vendors, who were among those worst-affected by the Covid-19 lockdowns, say they have not been assisted by the government. Most markets were shut down after the govern[1]ment introduced the lockdown in March 2020, to curb spread of the disease. Street vendors were also not allowed to operate during the lockdown.
“None of our members have benefitted from the US$1 billion SDR given by the IMF. We are still trying to get information as to where one needs to go to be part of this important intervention by the IMF. It is very important because most of our members lost massive incomes during the lockdown.
“So, we are very disturbed because now, almost a year down the line, we are worried as to how the funds have been disbursed. We are worried that the ugly head of corruption is rearing its head. We do not want this to happen to this fund, and we call upon the IMF to ensure transparency in how the money will be disbursed,” said Samuel Wadzai, the Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (Viset) director.
The SDR fund has also been a topical issue among organisations representing people with disabilities which were earmarked to benefit from the windfall. The National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped (NASCOH), an umbrella organisation of 70 groups representing people with disabilities, says it is not aware of any beneficiaries.
Organisations under NASCOH include Jairos Jiri, Zimcare Trust, Danhiko Project, Council For The Blind, Albino Charity Organisation, Autism Zimbabwe and Nzeve Deaf Centre.
“No one even knows how the process is being rolled out, and for other organisations like the Zimbabwe Parents of Handicapped Children Association (ZPHCA), it has been the first time hearing such,” said Ishmael Zhou, the NASCOH chairperson based in Bulawayo.
The fund has also been projected to help farmers, many who lost their produce and livelihoods during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Domboshava and Goromonzi, many farmers could not transport their produce to major markets like Harare’s Mbare Musika due to travel restrictions. Farmers who spoke to The NewsHawks said they were harassed during the pandemic, with security personnel manning the lockdown extorting them money for travel passes.
Most agricultural produce was rotting in the fields, spelling poverty for the farmers. Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union says the government made the intervention to smoothen agricultural value chains by injecting some of the funds to fix transportation channels of food to major markets.
“So, this was a national programme which was not discriminating. What I am aware of is that the public support that has been given by way of rolling out a number of programmes that were all supported by the SDR which include mitigation initiatives of marketing and aggregation of produce.
“And the other side of it was the smooth flow of produce from the farm to the market. Some farms got disrupted completely. There are some farms which totally closed down. It is not only the perishable in terms of vegetables, it was also the poultry. Hotels and schools were closed yet those were their major customers. “Those were the areas targeted. It was not like money that was going to be given to an individual. It was public support towards particular services that would make business better,” said Paul Zakaria, the ZFU president.
On the other hand, smallholder farmers say they have not benefitted from the services fi[1]nanced by the SDRs.
“No one got any funding,” said Ngoni Chikowe, Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers’ Forum (Zimsoff) agricultural technical officer based in Mutoko.
“The only people who got assistance were helped by social welfare. Smallholder farmers never got any assistance from anywhere.”
Women’s groups say they have also not benefitted. Young Women’s Christian Association of Zimbabwe (YWMCA), a non-profit organisation that develops the leadership power of women and girls to achieve social empowerment, has also been tracing the SDR windfall.
The organisation, which is the cluster lead for economic empowerment under the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCOZ) – a grouping of more than 60 women’s rights organisations – says vulnerable women have not been cushioned countrywide.
“We were anticipating and expecting the vulnerable to be cushioned, but throughout our constituencies across Zimbabwe, we never got a report to say there are any people who benefitted. So, we do not know what really happened. The social safety net was supposed to benefit all those who could not fend for themselves,” says Cynthia Mukamuri, the YWMCA national secretary-general. The organisation has also conducted research which shows that its members did not benefit. The ministry of Finance and Economic Development told The NewsHawks that the fund has been disbursed to promote development in various sectors, namely: education, agriculture and other social protection nets.
A recent report by on the usage of the SDRs by the government from September 2021 to June 2022 availed to The NewsHawks shows that Treasury allocated US$222 million towards health, education and social protection nets, with US$167 million being withdrawn.
The agriculture revolving fund was allocated US$50 million, but nothing was withdrawn, meaning farmers had not benefitted. A total of US$222 million was set aside as a contingency fund, with nothing being deducted from the allocation.
Ministry of Finance spokesperson Clive Mphambela said he was not aware of any personal disbursements to the vulnerable.
“The recent report produced by the Minister (Mthuli Ncube) shows the expenditure patterns. I am not aware of the disbursements to personal accounts. I am also not aware of personal disbursements of the SDRs,” he said.
“There is a social protection programme coming which has very little to do with the SDRs.”
Upon receiving the SDR funds, Ncube said vulnerable persons would be cushioned through cash handouts or the Food For Work programme, among other measures.
