Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are in an alliance against inequality in Zimbabwe.
The 18 member alliance, Fight Inequality Alliance-Zimbabwe, will participate in the Global Week of Action Against Inequality from the 15th to the 22nd of January 2022.
Zimbabwean NGOs will be holding a virtual protest through social media posts denouncing inequality in Zimbabwe during the week.
This year’s Global Week of Action Against Inequality runs under the theme Time To Tax The Rich.
The Global Week of Action seeks to respond to the widening gap between the very rich and the poor.
Fight Inequality Alliance -Zimbabwe argues that inequality is rising among Zimbabweans.
The alliance says economically Zimbabweans are divided across classes, regions, sex, and generations.
“The gradual consolidation of wealth and economic power in the hands of a few economic and political elites has over the years facilitated the massive transfer of public wealth and economic opportunities into private hands at the expense of the majority of citizens. These transfers have often been accomplished through high levels of debt accumulation, austerity measures, privatisation, market deregulation and massive tax avoidance.”
“Resultantly, over half the population of Zimbabwe has fallen into poverty over the last decade, with current World Bank figures indicating that 7.9 million Zimbabweans are currently living in extreme poverty of living under the food poverty line of US$29.80 for each person a month.”
The alliance Alliance recommends the Zimbabwean government to:
- Abandon unjust austerity measures and facilitate robust wealth redistribution programmes targeting marginalized groups and provinces including a universal income grant and legislated fair minimum wage for all Zimbabwean workers.
- Finance and fully implement devolution of power and authority away from central Harare to lower tiers of government as provided for in the Constitution.
- Restrain dominant monopolies in key economic sectors such as telecommunications and energy and strengthen consumer protection by regulating the ability of dominant market players to raise consumer prices.
- Ensure fairer taxation, through the introduction of a redistributive wealth tax and abolition of unjust tax incentives to foreign investors.
- Institute stronger systems of capital controls and democratic oversight mechanisms to reduce the leakage of public resources through corruption, illicit financial flows and tax avoidance.
