The RTGS dollars are made of bond notes, bond coins, and electronic money. In August this year, we will know whether the electronic portion of the RTGS dollars (electronic RTGS Dollars) will still be a legal tender or not. The electronic RTGS Dollars where introduced as a legal tender after the President invoked his controversial powers called The Presidential (Temporary Measures) Powers Act.
What does The Presidential (Temporary Measures) Powers Act say?
The Presidential (Temporary Measures) Powers Act empowers the President to introduce legally binding laws in an emergency without going through a parliamentary process, with the law only holding for six months. The law will remain in force for a statutory period of six months, during which a Bill will have to be processed for consideration by the Parliament. If the Parliament revokes the law during those 6 months, the law will then expire after 6 months.
In the case of the electronic RTGS Dollars, it means that they (electronic RTGS Dollars) will continue to be a legal tender for the next 6 months. But during these 6 months, the Parliament will choose whether to revoke or keep them as legal tender indefinitely through a Bill. When those 6 months elapses and the parliament doesn’t assent to the Bill, then after August this year the RTGS Dollars will be deemed not to be a legal tender.
So Mandudya will pin his hope on the Parliament to approve the use of electronic RTGS Dollars as a legal tender. However given that Zanu-PF, the ruling party has a two-thirds majority in the parliament, the Bill will be approved which will see electronic RTGS Dollars continue to be legal tender.
Download The PRESIDENTIAL POWERS (TEMPORARY MEASURES) ACT here
Download The Statutory Instrument 33 of 2019 here
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