"Govt Policies Are Misunderstood, We're Hiring A Communications Person," Mthuli Ncube

Finance minister, Mthuli Ncube, has said that they will be hiring a communications person to help them explain government policies to the general populace.

Speaking on Monday during a Daily News organised Business Breakfast Forum held to discuss the implications of the re-introduction of the Zimbabwe dollar, Ncube that government’s policies were not being properly communicated. Ncube said:

We are hiring a new communications person to help us communicate better. I think we are almost there with that and I think we can do better (to communicate), including also in vernacular languages and so forth. We could do better with communications.

Guests had expressed that the re-introduction of the Zimbabwe dollar through Statutory Instrument (SI) 142 of 2019 was a surprise development.

Ncube’s response was also addressing Harare lawyer Effort Jera’s question on whether the country’s currency issue will likely destabilise the country as there are three pending High court applications challenging SI 142.

Jera also asked if people can actually have confidence in the system, considering allegations of policy inconsistency. In response, Ncube said that it was fundamental for government policies to be predictable and consistent. He said what happened with SI 142 was unlikely to be seen in the future.

Previously, the Finance minister unexpectedly appointed Acie Lumumba, real name William Gerald Mutumanje as head of the Finance ministry communications committee last October. Lumumba, however, lasted only three days on the job within which he implicated senior Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe officials in illegal foreign currency deals.

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