By 
By Ross Moyo
Zimbabwe’s monetary authorities are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to stabilize the country’s new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold Currency (ZiG). After numerous attempts to revive the national currency, the ZiG is the latest initiative to establish a stable currency.
To ensure its success, law enforcement officers have been deployed to arrest illegal foreign currency traders who undermine the new currency.
The Zimbabwe dollar was reintroduced in 2019 after a decade-long absence, but its value plummeted, forcing the country to rely heavily on foreign currency. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, John Mushayavanhu, has made it a priority to make the ZiG work.
Recently, two illegal forex dealers, Kudakwashe Welcome Maketo (24) and Ishmael Munashe Sakonda (29), were convicted and sentenced to three months in prison for undermining the ZiG. The arrests demonstrate the government’s commitment to making the new currency a success.
Prosecutor Mandirasa Chigumira proved that the two committed the offences, when she told the court that “on August 1, 2024, police officers spotted Maketo, a resident of New Tafara, Harare, at Kamunhu shopping centre in Mabvuku, offering to buy foreign currency from passers-by in exchange for local currency. A team of detectives who were working undercover and armed with trap money approached Maketo to exchange money for US$20 at the rate of US$1 per ZiG16.
The accused, “Maketo transferred a total of ZiG320 from his Econet mobile number to one of the police officers Zorodzai Wagoneka’s Econet mobile in exchange for US$20.”
Detectives had also received information that on 29 July, “Sakonda was illegally dealing in foreign currency at Glen Norah B shops and brought trap money in the form of a US$20 note with serial number PG 93084730B.”
The ZiG is backed by bullion and foreign currency reserves held at the central bank and is Zimbabwe’s sixth attempt at establishing a credible national currency since 2008.
“This is Zimbabwe’s sixth attempt at establishing its own currency since 2008, when inflation crossed 500 billion percent,” according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) which also added,”This not only rendered it worthless, but turned the unit into a global punchline: US Treasury secretaries would carry the notes as a reminder of the evils of hyperinflation.”
The government aims to make the ZiG the sole legal tender, a bold move given the dominance of foreign currency in transactions.
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