MPs should reconsider this and push for amendments of the RBZ Act through a Private Members Bill. The Minister of Finance should also sponsor amendments to this Act to ensure that this law is brought in line with modern thinking. Similarly, the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe has a duty to protect its membership and not to bury its head in the sand, hoping someone else will spring up to their defence.
The only consolation for now is that those aggrieved with the conduct of the RBZ officials could still plead against their prejudices in terms of Section 63A of the same law. Already, there is a storm brewing between Time Bank and the RBZ with the former accusing the latter of negligence and acting in bad faith by delaying the handover of its computer system to enable it to resume operations.
Time Bank officials must also approach Parliament just like what Mutumwa Mawere has done in the Government versus Shabanie & Mashava Mines saga to ensure justice is done.
Gono or the RBZ must also recuse himself in this case so that someone else can look into this long-running dispute in an impartial manner. As it is, the RBZ governor’s involvement resembles a situation whereby a player assumes the role of the referee, the match commissioner and the appeal committee all rolled into one. Should such a person claim immunity at the end of the day? Where is justice in all this?
Linda KutureMasvingo
