By Staff Reporter
Government spent over two million Rands for the importation of galvanised steel for the Ambuya Nehanda statue which is currently under construction in central business district Harare.
The statue is being constructed at the intersection of Samora Machel Avenue and Julius Nyerere Way.
The steel was imported from the neighbouring South Africa.
This is in a letter that has gone viral on social media written by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) responding to a request by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works for a duty-free exemption certificate and dated 17 November 2020, the galvanised steel weighed 64 tonnes.
REQUEST FOR A DUTY-FREE EXEMPTION CERTIFICATE FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKS: MBUYA NEHANDA STATUE
It is hereby certified that the undermentioned consumption materials and […] goods are specifically for use by the Zimbabwe CRSG Construction Pvt Limited and are also provided for in terms of Statutory Instrument Number 154 of 2001, Part XIII subsection 114G of the Customs and excise and in terms of Section 137 of the Customs and Excise (General Regulations). Accordingly, a duty-free certificate for the following is granted…
The Local Government Ministry was granted permission to import galvanised steel weighing 64 000kgs valued at 2 184 575.44 Rand.
Award winning journalists Hopewell Chin’ono said, “How do you justify spending R2,184575 million on galvanizing a statue in South Africa when Harare Hospital has NO working maternity theater?”
“How do you justify spending around US$100k to transport it when poor citizens with no jobs are on lockdown without any food?
“This was only galvanizing and transportation, the cost of making the statue itself is not there.”
“Why take the statue to South Africa for galvanizing it? Don’t we have people who can galvanize it here?”
“Unobva waneta!!! This is what I always mean when I say ZANUPF doesn’t care about the ordinary people and their suffering, and I am jailed for that!”
#DemLoot
