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Zimbabwe Treasury's sin tax way to go to fund education
Students Solidarity Trust
November 18, 2012

The world over, tobacco companies have been under the cosh from governments now legislating against excessive consumption of its products. In Europe and North America, Class action has seen tobacco companies forking out a lot of money in compensation. Science has not been favourable either with scientific revelations that nicotine, one of the substances in cigarettes is addictive and hazardous to the health of both the active and passive smokers. This has forced governments to invoke their responsibility to protect by raising money for social programs. Tobacco companies therefore find themselves heavily regulated and taxed as a way of raising this money.

Tobacco companies have fled to what they have termed new markets in Asia, Africa and South America. Sports such as Formula 1 mainly powered by tobacco dollars have even moved away with Malaysia, China and Singapore being the new homes for the sport.

Similarly alcohol has also been under the spotlight as beverage manufacturers are some of the few companies making super profits from Zimbabweans consuming mainly alcoholic beverages. The last three years has seen exponential growth in plant and equipment refurbishment and replacement with new state of the art equipment being brought into the country to meet the increase in demand.

Enter Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Tendai Biti presenting the 2013 National Budget on November 15, 2012, suggesting raising excise duty on cigarettes and alcohol. Reason? To fund education by ring-fencing the resources realised and putting them to the education budget. His estimation is that eleven million dollars will be realised in December alone as his proposal is to take effect on December 1. The Students Solidarity Trust, a registered not for profit organization encourages more holistic solutions in funding the education sector. The organization welcomes the efforts to raise 4, 5 billion through the Education Medium Term Plan in the next five years by World Bank, UNICEF and other stakeholders. The plan will lead to the construction of 750 secondary schools, refurbishments of 24 000 classrooms, restoration of professional status of teachers and promotion of electronic learning among other things. The plan is a follow up to the Education Transition Fund by which was largely a success.

The education sector in Zimbabwe has been somewhat dissonant with the Education, Arts, Sport and Culture ministry proactively making inroads into resolving the decade-long challenges it has been facing. On the other hand, tertiary education has been less visible with politicians and bureaucrats in the ministry throwing barbs at the finance ministry without making public suggestions of how to get out of the quagmire.

Resultantly, students continue to find the going tough in tertiary institutions with institutions such as the University of Zimbabwe even ignoring government directives not to send students away who are on the cadetship scheme. Notwithstanding the administrative bungling that has seen the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe account of the University of Zimbabwe frozen, authorities continue to wantonly ignore calls to allow Zimbabwean students from poor families an opportunity to be educated.

The Student Solidarity Trust firmly holds that Zimbabwe's education system retains the potential to be the best in Africa and indeed the world if resources are channelled to the right areas. It is therefore welcome and commendable that the minister has introduced this tax. SST hopes that the money will be put to good use and all those funding this new education thrust through continuous intake of such hazardous substances must be assured that their money will not be gobbled up by the over-populated but under-performing ravenous bureaucracy though misplaced priorities such as excessive foreign travel.

Visit the Students Solidarity Trust fact sheet

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