Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president, Peter Mutasa, has bemoaned the payment methods adopted by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for tobacco farmers.
The RBZ announced on Tuesday that farmers will receive payment for their tobacco in RTGS currency, rather than the 50% US dollars it had promised them initially.
Mutasa said that there will be no development in the country as long as it did not reward the producers;
There will be no development or economic progress in a country which does not reward those who produce (workers).
Farmers must be paid in USD coz tobacco is exported. Farmers paid for the inputs in USD and will lose if they are paid in RTGS.
Framers have been angered by the decision and have vowed to withhold their produce until they are paid in US dollars.