By Dennis Ndlovu|Zim GBC News
Calls for accountability rang out during national budget consultations as citizens demanded better alignment between taxation and service delivery.
During national budget consultations, Tamudashe Moyo voiced concerns over the misuse of tax revenues, urging the government to improve transparency and ensure that taxes directly benefit the public, particularly in infrastructure and civil servant welfare.
Moyo criticised the disconnection between taxes collected and the services they intended to support.
“Every year, new taxes are introduced, like the sugar tax or tollgate fees,” he said.
“But these funds don’t seem to be channeled to their intended purposes. For example, if you pay a toll fee and just 500 meters from the tollgate, you hit a pothole.” He also cited the Beitbridge access fee as another example of misplaced priorities.
“You pay to access the road, but 20 kilometers from Beitbridge, there is no road. How do you justify paying for access when there’s nothing to access?” he asked.
Moyo warned that continued neglect of basic services, particularly for low-income civil servants, could have long-term consequences for the country.
“Civil servants are underpaid, yet they are raising children who also need good schools and proper healthcare. If this continues, we’re creating a generation of poverty.” He added that economic strain on ordinary citizens would ultimately hurt the country’s tax base.
“Taxes are supposed to come from people who are working, who are productive. If people are trapped in poverty, there’ll be no one left to generate revenue.”
Moyo urged the government to review civil servant salaries and improve service delivery.
“We must restore dignity to workers, especially civil servants, because even the cars driven by Members of Parliament are financed by us, the taxpayers.”
Meanwhile, Sukoluhle Mhlanga raised the alarm over the government’s failure to disburse BEAM (Basic Education Assistance Module) funds since the beginning of 2023, warning that this delay is undermining children’s right to education especially among poor, female-headed households and learners with disabilities.
Speaking during budget consultations, Mhlanga said the Ministry of Public Service had informed Parliament of the funding delays, which have left schools unable to support learners who depend on the program.
“Many parents, due to high unemployment, rely entirely on BEAM,” She said.
“Without it, poor families especially women are often pushed into informal or corrupt payment systems, including gender-based corruption such as sextortion, just to keep their children in school.”
She added that some vulnerable children, despite being registered under BEAM, are still being excluded from education due to a lack of disbursed support.
Mhlanga warned that public trust in BEAM and other social protection schemes is deteriorating fast.
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