Mbizo legislator Corban Madzivanyika has strongly criticised the 2026 National Budget, accusing it of failing to address the everyday challenges facing ordinary Zimbabweans and overlooking critical sectors such as healthcare, social services, and economic governance.
Debating in Parliament, Madzivanyika said the budget lacked meaningful stimulus and did little to restore public or investor confidence.
“There is no change, there is no stimulus, there is no confidence in the economy,” he said, warning that Zimbabwe’s US$25 billion national debt remains a major risk without strict fiscal discipline.
He described the budget’s macroeconomic assumptions — including a projected 5% economic growth — as unrealistic given current constraints in infrastructure, investment, and productive capacity.
The MP said the health sector remains the hardest hit, citing the continued loss of specialist medical staff and the lack of essential equipment such as ventilators, CT scanners, and cancer treatment machines.
“This budget proposition does not make sense when our real-life situation is not important,” he said.
Madzivanyika also raised alarm over persistent corruption and revenue leakages, particularly in government procurement. He criticised the VAT increase from 15% to 15.5%, calling it punitive for low-income households.
“The people who suffer from these increases are consumers, and the bulk of them are ordinary citizens,” he said.
He argued that the government’s approach to the IMTT tax remains inequitable, saying exemptions tend to benefit only a small segment of society while the wider population continues to carry the burden.
The legislator further accused authorities of treating the budget process as a “box-ticking exercise,” with fiscal plans rarely aligned to the realities of cash flows and service delivery needs on the ground.
“The budget is the same old rhetoric. There is no change. We are a government that prioritizes individual gains over properly structured governance,” he concluded.
