#ElectionsZW: We need a Parliament with capacity to scrutinise budgets
Issues of tax justice require legislators that have the capacity to scrutinise budgets, says Angella Mandoreba from Fight Inequality Alliance Zimbabwe.
The tax system in Zimbabwe has long been judged to favour the rich at the expense of the poor who constitute the majority.
Most of the blame has been levelled against the legislators who have done very little to scrutinise budgets that come before them every year.
A good example is the 2022 National Budget that was passed by the National Assembly with little debate.
The situation was even worse when it was transmitted to the Senate where it took just two days pass and without meaningful debate.
Economic and political watchers have attributed the failure to scrutinise things in Parliament to a lack of capacity by the legislators.
Education is not a requirement for one to be a legislator in Zimbabwe although Parliamentary work requires education for one to be effective.
In an interview on Tuesday-Talk, Mandoreba said Zimbabwe needs legislators who scrutinise things, especially budgets.
‘’We need a Parliament with the technical capacity to scrutinise the budget from a tax justice point of view. We really need a Parliament that can scrutinise the budget to see that the treasury strikes that delicate balance between revenue collection and redistribution of wealth.
‘’Although that did not happen to say let us peg the 2% tax above the poverty datum line, also let us also engage in lifestyle audits that ZACC promised us we need to know where some of the rich individuals got their wealth from.
‘’If they got ill-gotten wealth then we have to recover, because if someone gets ill-gotten wealth through evading paying taxes then he or she is prejudicing the country of the much-needed revenue.
‘’Revenue that is needed to finance the developmental needs of the poor, yet the poor Zimbabweans are continually burdened by such tax practices,’’ she said. #FIGHTINEQUALITY #TaxTheRich
