IT’S AN ILLUSION THAT PEOPLE HAVE MONEY IN HOMES – MUNDUBILE

Lusaka – Friday, 14 February 2025

MPOROKOSO PF member of parliament Brian Mundubile says there is nothing wrong with law enforcement agencies interrogating individuals who will deposit large sums of money during the withdrawal period to allow for new notes.

But Mundubile, however, says it is an illusion to think people are keeping money in their homes because times are hard.

On Wednesday, Bank of Zambia Governor Dr Denny Kalyalya warned people who like keeping money under their mattresses that it will cease to be legal tender after the withdrawal period to allow for new notes.

Dr Kalyalya said that law enforcement agencies would take keen interest in people who would be depositing large sums of money during the withdrawal period.

Commenting on this in an interview, Mundubile said government just needed to pay local suppliers in order to improve liquidity in the country.

“It is not happening for the first time when the currency has changed. Sometimes it is done when government suspects a lot of money is not in circulation and in people’s hands. There’s nothing wrong with government asking someone with a huge deposit on why they were keeping money at home. But also, what remains a fact is that there’s low liquidity in the market.

People just have no money. I doubt that in these hard times, there can be people that would keep money at home. The notion I have been reading about out there where people feel that others are keeping money at home, what is true is there’s just no money in the country. I don’t think that anything would change. So maybe what government has to look at measures of ensuring that there’s enough liquidity in the market,” he said.

“One way of ensuring that there’s enough liquidity in the market is to ensure that the money is paid to those who are owed. If you ask suppliers out there, they are owed millions of Kwacha. To introduce liquidity in the market, government has to ensure that they pay for the goods and services provided to government. What is surprising is that government would rather pay people supplying goods now, leaving out people who supplied goods and services for over four years now. So even as government puts in these measures, they must understand one of the reasons why there’s no liquidity on the market may not be that people are hiding money, but simply because government for some reason has preferred to pay huge sums of money to foreigners and not to local suppliers. When foreign companies are paid, they convert the money into foreign currency and send it out. So local suppliers must be prioritised and we will see a change”.

Mundubile said it was a hoax to believe that politicians were keeping money in their homes.

“So there’s nothing wrong with government interrogating those found with huge amounts of cash when changing the currency. At the same time, government should look at prioritising payments to local suppliers. So I think it’s a hoax to believe that politicians are keeping money. You never know but most of the money for local businesses is with government and they are not paying. So it’s an illusion to imagine that maybe when these measures are taken, people will be coming with containers of cash to go and deposit. I doubt that. The money government is holding away from people is the money that should be paid to improve the liquidity in the country,” said Mundubile.

Credit: News Diggers