Better Keep Your Dollars Under The Pillow

Better Keep Your Dollars Under The Pillow

by Albert Ndambambi

Let's talk about the ride we are being taken on by our leaders. We were asked to open FCA Nostro accounts by the RBZ. As a law abiding and progressive thinking Zimbabwean, I obliged and opened mine with CBZ. I deposited a sizable amount of cash into this account over the past fortnight. I did this with confidence in the new administration and also with the thinking yekuti surely our government won't take us for a ride for the third time. The tellers were smiling and encouraging. Ndakabva ndaita manyemwe. Ndikati haaa ndiyo new dispensation ka iyi.

😩😩BOY WAS I WRONG😩😩

Yesterday I then decided to make a small TT payment to a colleague in the US. Here is what I was told;

"...you will need to complete a telegraphic transfer form and invoice being paid for. If there is no invoice and you are paying for services provided you need to provide copy of contract or agreement contract or agreement which should have been registered with rbz. If it is a loan repayment you also need to have the copy agreement and loan should have been registered with rbz. As for TTs to other personal accounts, this option is currently not available as per central bank exchange control regulations in place....."

😳 You can wonder what sort of anger and disdain I felt. I deposited my cash in good faith. Personal money they had no idea I had, in the spirit of supporting government initiatives. I was MAAAAD.

Little did I know, this was just the tip of an iceberg. I then asked to make a small withdrawal of usd$2 000.00. The teller went in, consulted and came back telling me, "...Sir you can only withdraw a thousand a day...." WHAAAAAT?

Be that as it was, I obliged and withdrew $1000 which was not enough for my needs anyway but I just accepted. Rules are rules.

Now here comes the juicy part, today I went back to withdraw the balance of the $2 000, which was $1 000. I was told, "....we do not have cash at the moment....leave your withdrawal slip and we will call you when cash is ready." I did, and sure enough 2pm a call came through alerting me of the availability of the cash. My P.A went to pick it and guess what, those notes in the picture were what she got. Ma dollar here vakomana? Ko yangu yakaendepi? I deposited proper clean notes.

Here's what I think. This shit of NOSTRO this NOSTRO that won't work. People deposit money in the bank with the trust that any time they want it they can get it and also with the belief that it's safe in there. Now, according to my experience, if you deposit your cash into the bank, 1) you won't have access to it anytime you want and 2) your pilllow is much safer than a bank.

My word to GOVT,WE DO NOT TRUST YOU.The only way you can gain our trust is by being fair and right.If I deposit cash,let me get it whenever I want.

Sexual Harassment In The Workplace

The supervisor[name supplied but withheld] of one very prominent Harare based cleaning company which has contracts to clean a lot of business premises and embassies is a perpetual sexual harasser.

Sexual Harassement In The Workplace

Reliable sources paint a grime picture of a married man who cannot keep it in his pants,He is reportedly related to one of the top managers and has been carrying out his nefarious deeds with impunity for a long time as most of his victims cannot report him for fear of victimisation.The sources claim that he has bedded most of the female employees under his supervision,should one turn down his advances then they get shifted from place to place and made to do the worst jobs.In a country where the economy is reeling from high unemployment,most ladies choose to resign than be made play-things of the serial sexual predator.

Sources say matters came to a head at one institution,a lady who has continuously turned down the unwanted attention of the abuser was dressed down before all and sundry for failing to do an imagined task well.What really irked the lady was not the dressing down , but for it to be done in public was very stressful to say the least.As I write she is contemplating resigning her job.

My appeal is for someone with the right legal background to start a programme of empowering our daughters,sisters and wives on how they can sue the harassers and the companies that turn a blind eye to sexual harassment in the work-place

The Workplace Spouse, Do You Have One?

The rage nowadays is the emergence of workplace spouses.Most people spend most of their waking hours at the workplace,so it makes sense one would suppose that they would need someone to make the long dreary hours manageable.

The Workplace Spouse, Do You Have One ?

The advocates of this trend, which I learnt started in the early 1900s,say it is made to help one blend into the workplace  and make one socialize better.They caution that one needs to be completely open with their marriage partners at home about their workplace spouses for it to work.The relationship is supposed to be platonic but there is no ruling out the fact that being human a good number of people who indulge in this arrangement would end up crossing the line and having a workplace romance.

Being an African ,brought up in the church , i have always believed in marriage being a union between a man and woman who are supposed to live happily ever-after.I know the politically correct term these days is for marriage to be between two partners,gender irregardless.The trend just gives me the creeps.I cannot imagine my spouse taking kindly to me having a workplace spouse,THANK GOD I work from home.One can just imagine the number of nights I was going to spend on the couch because of a misuderstanding between my spouse and I.A clear case of different strokes for different folks I suppose.