zanupf's 9 day wonder is illegal
- From: "Zvakanaka" <lalapansi@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 10:43:34 +0200
Crackdown illegal: lawyers
The Zimbabwe Independent
Augustine Mukaro/Constantine Chimakure
GOVERNMENT'S current blitz to force manufacturers and retailers to reduce
prices of goods is illegal as there is no enabling law to legitimise the
state's actions, lawyers said yesterday.
Describing the actions of the state as immoral, the lawyers said the
government decision to force business to reduce prices to June 18 levels was
irrational and should be challenged in a court of law.
The blitz has seen government price control teams moving from shop to shop
slashing prices. This has resulted in all basket goods disappearing from
shelves. The accompanying mayhem prevailing at shops and supermarkets
following the slashing of prices has also resulted in massive looting of
goods by gangs, which appear to have inside information about which shops
the enforcers would be visiting.
In an interview yesterday senior Harare lawyers Sternford Moyo and Muchadei
Masunda said government had no legal grounds to enforce a price freeze.
"There is no legal instrument authorising the price freeze, controls,
reduction or monitoring on the scale being implemented by the government,"
said Moyo. "It would be very much illegal to arrest anyone."
Another lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, described government's actions as immoral
saying the state was forcing retailers to sell goods at a loss. He said
government, in implementing the current blitz was not taking into
consideration the price at which retailers were purchasing goods from
wholesalers and manufacturers.
"You cannot prescribe things that are practically impossible," Muchadehama
said. "It is an immoral policy which cannot stand the test at law. It is not
a policy in the public interest. It's like seizing someone's property."
He said even if the state was to invoke the statutory instrument that was
used to prescribe the prices of basket goods, a notional assortment, it
would find it difficult to prosecute retailers because the instrument was
now outdated since factors influencing production had changed.
However, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Callisto Jokonya
said even in the absence of an enabling law, business would comply with the
defective policy.
"We are aware that there is no law," said Jokonya. "There is no statutory
instrument, but for us what is important is to engage the government.
"It does not make economic sense to go to court. If we engage them in the
courts, government can wake up tomorrow and declare a state of emergency.
What will we do?"
While business has said it would comply, the blitz has degenerated into an
orgy of looting, throwing the retail industry into chaos - resulting in many
shops across the country losing billions of dollars worth of goods.
Reports from virtually all provinces show that the government price control
units made up of the youth militias, police, army and the Central
Intelligence Organisation are causing havoc when they raid shops, resulting
in people scrambling for commodities. Speculation is rife that the looting
of the goods could be masterminded by unscrupulous members of the price
control units using hired mobs to grab commodities and later off-load them
onto the black-market for their personal gains.
Retailers said they were surprised by the crowds, which immediately gather
at shops during the process of reducing prices by the control units. They
suspect that the police and youth militias enforcing the controls are also
involved in syndicates that immediately buy goods in bulk once prices are
reduced.
The fashioned confusion often deteriorates into uncontrolled commodity
grabbing resulting in goods being damaged and some customers taking
advantage of the melée to leave without paying.
Spokesperson of the Retailers Association of Zimbabwe Denford Mutashu
confirmed the looting of products from supermarkets but said he was not
aware of the involvement of the price controllers.
"We are aware of the looting you are referring to, but we are yet to
quantify its extent," Mutashu said. "A lot of retailers have lost goods to
thieves who take advantage of the confusion in shops once prices are
slashed."
In Harare a supermarket chain on Tuesday lost billions of dollars through
looting after its employees were overwhelmed by clients as a result of the
reduced prices. Scores of people were seen leaving the shop in First Street
without paying for goods such as soap, salt, rice, Mazoe and margarine.
The shop floor was littered with remnants of the products as some got
damaged in the stampede.
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