People With Disability participates in ZIMRA Workshop on Taxes and Customs

By Constance

PWD

Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA) People With Disability Masvingo Territory members led by Chair Moses Chitombo held a meeting with Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) on Taxes and Duty on the 31st of May 2019 at the ZIMRA building in Masvingo.

ZIMRA was represented by Mr. Panganai Antony Taxes Officer and Saidi Robert Customs officer. Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA) People With Disability members from Masvingo wanted to have a clear understanding of how ZIMRA works especially policies concerning people with disabilities at border posts. They also wanted to have a memorandum of understanding with ZIMRA as ZCIEA Masvingo and all over the country.

ZIMRA shared critical information to People With Disability about Taxes and Customs duty, tax obligations, commercial imports, Acts which authorize ZIMRA to collect taxes from traders and the benefits of registering a business of PWDs.
They were also informed about Customs Duty suspension on vehicles imported by people with disability and these are supposed to be people who are blind, with any physical disability that impedes his mobility permanently.

PWD can import the following vehicle without paying customs duty and surtax, only VAT is paid in RTGS dollars: Toyota wish, Honda air waive, light trucks with a payload which do not exceeds 1400kg. The requirements for duty suspension are as follows; application letter, a confirmation letter from a doctor, proof of residence, driver’s license copy of national ID and pro forma invoice clearly showing make and model of vehicle, year of manufacture, engine number and chassis number.

ZIMRA also said that for commercial imports, goods of value which exceeds RTGS $1000 are declared with the assistance of a clearing agent customs, VAT, Surtax in certain instances and presumptive tax is payable on all commercial imports. They also highlighted common custom offenses that are committed by informal traders
such as the false declaration, smuggling goods, and tax invasion. The above offenses attract severe penalties and fines to the offenders.

ZCIEA Masvingo PWD also had an opportunity to highlight the challenges they are facing especially at the border post and their working places. The challenge includes language barrier,
high fares and working space which is accessible for them to move freely so that they can be able to pay taxes.

ZCIEA Sparkles at the 1st Forum of Social Security Institutions in Addis Ababa, Ethopia

by Constance Chitombo

Mrs Mandishona the ZCIEA National Chairperson for Woman’s structure attended the 1ST Forum of Social Security Institutions in Africa Representing informal economy traders from the 29th – 30th of March 2019 in Ethiopia Addis Ababa.

More than eighteen (18) countries attended the workshop, ZCIEA was the only informal economy organisation and the rest being represented by their governments.

The main focus of the workshop was social security for migrant workers, social security extension to workers in the informal economy and prepare a position paper and recommendation to the specialized technical committee on social development, labour and employment.

Mrs Mandishona in her presentation she gave a brief profile of ZCIEA including vision, mission, sector coverage, and advocacy work by ZCIEA based on social protection, and all the work ZCIEA has done towards decent work and revolving fund to boost informal workers businesses.

She also presented on achievements the organisation has made which includes; four policy position papers which are decent work agenda, workers’ rights, legislation (at national, regional and international level) and formalisation (ILO recommendation 204).

After the presentation ZCIEA became the centre of discussion and everyone in the room wanted to identify with ZCIEA and most of ZCIEA points were taken in the final recommendations such as financial inclusion, social dialogue and social protection among others.

Other countries present commended ZCIEA as democratic organisation which operates from grass root level leaving no one out and also mentioned that if the informal economy gets all the support such as financial inclusion, access to markets, social protection it will lead to infrastructure development and contribution to fair tax.

ZCIEA’s work is now recognized at national, regional  and international level.

#THE CHAMBER THAT DELIVERS

#NOTHING FOR US WITHOUT US

ZCIEA saved Jambanja market from eviction in Chitungwiza.

# I am not a criminal 2019

By Constance Chitombo

Following the unlawful removal of informal traders at Jambanja market in Chitungwiza as of court ruling of 2010, ZCIEA has since intervened helping them to regain their prowess through legal action.

ZCIEA’s legal representative wrote a letter to the Chitungwiza Municipality and Zimbabwe Republic Police ordering them to desist from harassing informal traders by interfering with their lawful business.

Informal traders who operate at Jambanja market were living in distress of being harassed by police and council confiscating their goods, destroying their stalls and some being arrested. The police  and council went on to give the informal traders at Jambanja a 30 minutes ultimatum to vacate from the market else they were going to face demolition.

ZCIEA in 2010 obtained a high court ruling which allows informal workers and traders to work freely without disturbances at Jambanja market and prohibited the municipality and their agents from interfering in any manner with their lawful business operations.

Chitungwiza Municipality has been collecting revenue from informal traders and stopped in 2017 saying they want to computerize them and numbering their tables but have to displace them from their source of living despite knowing the court order. They continued to pester them by destroying their market stalls and barring them from carrying on with their business activities at Jambanja market.

Through its legal representative, ZCIEA has intervened in safeguarding the work place for members at Jambanja and they are doing their business activities freely without fear from the police and city council.

One informal trader name withheld said that ZCIEA has indeed intervened and now they function at Jambanja Market freely.

“I am so grateful to what ZCIEA has done for us, we were living in fear of terror the police and council were displaying towards us by destroying our working place, confiscating our goods and displacing us from our source of living but now we are free to operate at Jambanja”, He said.

ZCIEA Secretary General Mr Wisborn Malaya said the organisation is indeed working towards its mandate which is to safeguard the welfare of informal traders by promoting and protecting their interests and hoping that the government and local governance will decriminalize the work of the informal traders.

“It is the uttermost hope of the organisation that the government of Zimbabwe through all the local authorities will come to the reality check of the informal economy’s contribution in the society. This should be realized through decriminalizing the work of the informal traders and cultivating a political will attitude to transform their activities” said Mr Malaya.

Public-Private sector dialogue to promote Informal Economy.

By Constance Chitombo

Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA) Secretary General Mr Wisborn Malaya met with the African Development Bank (AFDB) consultant Dr Master Mushonga on the 26th of February at ZCIEA offices in Harare to discuss on how to improve investments climate in Zimbabwe through public-private sector dialogue from the informal economy viewpoint.

Public-Private Sector Dialogue is an effective interaction and dialogue between the government and the private sector, including NGOs, It plays a key role in creating a coherent policy framework and effective support measures and structures for the development of enterprises and the private sector development is widely recognized by the international community as an engine of sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

The African Development Bank (AfDB), the premier financial development institution in the continent, identifies private sector development as one of its fundamental areas of focus to reduce poverty and support sustainable growth in Africa and offers financial assistance through three windows that is: lending to the states, private sectors and grants to the governments.

Dr Mushonga was piloting a research on public-private sector dialogue and economic expansion in Zimbabwe after realising the need for a dialogue between government and private sector.

“We are conducting this research because after a round table meeting we held in April 2018 trying to understand their financial requirements and exploring ways to assist Zimbabwe’s economy especially private sector, we realised that the government and the private sector lack effective dialogue which makes each one of them understands their roles and responsibilities in rebuilding the economy of Zimbabwe, this includes the role of every player and informal economy as well,”

“The public-private sector discourse, is producing unique results in some African countries such as Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Africa and Nigeria and we saw it worth to conduct such a research in Zimbabwe and I already visited firms like Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce, and hitherto meet Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, MIMOSA, and Zimplates “,said Dr Mushonga.

 SG Malaya said ZCIEA is working tirelessly having memorandum of understanding with all local authorities in a bid to meet their purpose which is being obliged by the mission and vision of the organisation which is creating a decent standard of living for all Zimbabweans in a stable economy and alleviating poverty through transforming informal economic activities into main stream activities although the informal traders are participating in developmental assemblies, they are side-lined in countless things and criminalised due to lack of pro-poor policies

“We now have memorandum of understanding with some city councils and our Informal traders and workers are participating in the local governance issues that is attending council meetings, budget and developmental gatherings in areas like Guruve, Kariba, Bulawayo and Chivhu to mention just a few, Harare being the difficult municipality in the country”

“Even though ,the informal traders are participating in developmental assemblies, they are being side-lined in several gears especially the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) which was pronounced recently on the 31th of January 2019, the informal economy needs representation in that council so that their gripes are well presented and taken care of by responsible authorities.” said Mr Malaya

SG Malaya concluded by suggesting four things that he thinks if the government do will boost the economy of Zimbabwe

  • “I think if the economy  of Zimbabwe will grow if the government respects the rights of informal traders and support their business initiatives
  • Government must separate politics from developmental issues,
  •  devolution of power and investment in the informal economy are key,
  • There must be bias towards pro-poor policies formation”, he said.

The informal economy constitute more than 90% of the working populace in the country in Zimbabwe. So there is a dire need of funding them to grow their business instead of criminalising them.

Zimbabwe Chamber Of Informal Economy Associations

“The chamber that delivers

Mission :Creating a decent standard of living for all Zimbabweans in a stable economy

vision: Alleviating poverty through transforming informal economic activities into main stream activities

ZCIEA is an association which represents workers economy across the country.It organises, establish,promotes and protects the interests of informal economy traders