Minister of Finance and Economic Development for Zimbabwe Prof Mthuli Ncube has fired the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority board with immediate effect in a bid to deal with endemic corruption with the state institution.
The minister revealed this during the Mid-term monetary policy announcement in Harare yesterday.
Prof Ncube said ZIMRA systems will be upgraded and enhanced in order to improve efficiency in revenue collection, especially at border posts.
“Mechanisms will be put in place to eradicate any corrupt activities,” he said.
“I have proposed names of new Board members which are currently being cleared. In the meantime, ZIMRA senior management will be reporting directly to Treasury.
The minister also suspended the recruitment of new employees until the new board has been appointed.
Prof Ncube said to enhance the country’s capacity in enacting economic reforms, pursuit of international reengagement and benchmarking performance Treasury will accelerate cooperation with international financial institutions and bilateral partners as it pursues international reengagement and benchmark performance.
Addressing the fuel challenges in the country, Prof Ncube said a long term measure to ease Reserve Bank burden to source foreign currency for fuel consumption is to create a “Regional Fuel Dry Port.”
“The concept of a Dry Fuel Port is an important economic development issue,” he noted.
“The Ministry of Finance will work with Ministry of Energy and Power Development in order to realise the vision for a Dry Fuel Port for the Region.
“A strategy in this regard will be developed and new investors invited, so that in the end the multiple fuel importers can source their own foreign currency in the market”.
