Economic analysts say a recent decree by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe threatening state takeover of businesses that fail to produce enough goods to meet the needs of the nation will deal another severe blow to enterprises.
The statutory instrument states that any enterprise that fails to meet requirements will be placed under a “temporary administrator” while legal procedures run their course.
Critics say this merely transfers control to the government and ruling ZANU-PF party bigwigs as happened in the land reform program, seen by many as the root of the economic crisis that continues to unfold and deepen today.
The so-called National Incomes and Prices Commission Amendment Act provides a retroactive legal basis for "Operation Dzikisai Mitengo," Shona for "Operation Reduce Prices," under which the state in July imposed price cuts of up to 70%.
Economist John Robertson told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s latest decree, and proposed legislation to take a 51% stake in all foreign owned companies, will leave businesses and workers even more vulnerable in an already highly unstable economic environment.
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