HARARE – In a legal poser, prominent lawyer Thabani Mpofu says ZiG has ceased to be legal tender arguing the time span prescribed in statutes that gave life to the country’s gold backed currency has since lapsed.
In a post on his X handle, the once celebrity lawyer best remembered for fronting the 2018 Constitutional Court challenge against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s election victory on behalf of opposition politician Nelson Chamisa, argued the ZiG came through a statutory instrument promulgated in terms of the Presidential Powers Act whose effect lapsed at the end of 6 months.
Said the lawyer, “Unless I missed the law when it was promulgated, the ZIG is no longer currency.
“The ZIG was operationalised by the promulgation of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act and Issue of Zimbabwe Gold Notes and Coins) Regulations, 2024.
“By law, a statutory instrument promulgated in terms of the Presidential Powers Act lapses at the end of 6 months unless prior to its lapse, the instrument is validated by primary legislation.
“In this case, the 6 months would have lapsed on the 4th of October 2024. This means that by the end of that day, the ZIG ceased to be currency.”
Mpofu added, “It is not possible for the statutory instrument once it has lapsed to be validated by legislation. Further, the statutory instrument having lapsed no further regulations identical to the lapsed ones can be promulgated within 6 months of such lapse.
“This means that no Statutory Instrument extending the life of ZIG can be issued in terms of the Presidential Powers Act.
“For these reasons, the ZIG is no longer legal tender. The consequences are immense. I think we have a big problem on our hands. (I sincerely hope for the life of me that the authorities did the needful. If they didn’t, this needs to be fixed by the only lawful way available).”
ZimLive could not readily obtain comment from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) on Mpofu’s comments.
Touted as the ultimate solution to the country’s protracted currency woes, the ZiG was introduced by the central bank in April this year.
However, six months into existence, the currency has seen its free-fall, evoking memories of its predecessor monies that have all followed each other into the dust bin.
But Zanu PF, the country’s governing party, remains stubborn, declaring in resolutions by its annual people’s conference in Bulawayo weekend it would “take robust measures to strengthen the purchasing power of the Zimbabwe Gold currency (ZiG) and entrench its usage” and further resolved to “promote the wider circulation of the ZiG currency and its availability in all denominations”.
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