Gilbert Wandera — Reports From Kenya
One US dollar exchanges at 6.2 billion Zimbabwean dollars — What a ‘Mugabean’ mess!
PICTURE: A child with wads of notes in Harare — 200,000 Zimbabwean dollars exchange at 1US cent.
Zimbabwe continues making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The Southern African country’s future is in oblivion, following political turmoil tied to the leadership of President Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
Mugabe’s iron fist and anti-donor policies have left Zimbabwe’s economy in tatters, with poverty, unemployment and political strife increasing by the day.
Last Sunday gave Harambee Stars players and local journalists an opportunity to experience challenges facing Zimbabweans.
If it had been Nairobi, all those who visited Harare for the national soccer team’s away match with Zimbabwe would be billionaires.
Exchanging US dollars at the airport to Zimbabwean dollars turned the entourage into multi-billionaires.
One US dollar exchanges at 6.2 billion Zimbabwean dollars.
The once vibrant Zimbabwean economy has been hit by hyperinflation. The Kenyan “billionaires” felt cheated while in Harare. They realised prices of basic goods were record high.
Rising inflation
A calling card, for instance, retails at 5.5 billion Zimbabwean dollars. The same would go for Sh50 in Kenya.
Ordinary Zimbabweans find life difficult as the country’s inflation rate tops 165,000 per cent, the world’s highest.
Zimbabweans say prices of goods in supermarkets are sometimes adjusted between the time one picks the items and pays at the till.
Beth and Daniel, a couple who works for an international faith-based organisation in Harare, are a case study of what Zimbabweans and expatriates endure.
For this couple, life is a daily battle. They can hardly afford the basic items used on a daily basis.
According to Daniel, the last time they had a loaf of bread was a month ago, because the cost is prohibitive.
“We cannot afford bread any more since the cost keeps rising. And in any case you can’t even find it,” he said in an interview.
A loaf of bread, which costs Sh35 in Kenya, costs 3 billion Zimbabwean dollars.
Because it is hardly available, scenes of consumers queuing in the streets of Harare to buy bread are commonplace.
Daniel says the emergence of black markets has led to the scarcity of bread and other basic food items.
“When bread comes, traders cashing in on the crisis buy all of it and sell it right outside the bakeries at exorbitant prices,” says Daniel.
Indeed many manufactures prefer to sell on the black market because this helps them get more money,” he said.
Daniel explains how he has to queue for long to withdraw money from his bank account.
According to Daniel, the Mugabe Government has restricted the amount of money one can withdraw to just 25 billion Zimbabwean dollars, which he says is too little.
“Today, I had to queue for three hours to withdraw 25 billion dollars. It is not enough to buy everything I need and so I will come back tomorrow for more,” he said.
…More At Olonga’s MySpace Website
Olonga was forced to flee Zimbabwe after wearing a black armband during a World Cup match to protest against Robert Mugabe’s regime. This act led to a warrant issued in Zimbabwe for Olonga’s arrest on charges of treason (which carries the death penalty in Zimbabwe) and forced him to retire from international cricket and temporarily go into hiding.
Cash crunch
Though most banks have Automated Teller Machines, most have stalled because they are not equipped to serve the many customers who turn up to withdraw cash.
Beth says school fees and medical costs are spiralling out of control.
She says they find it difficult to keep their son David in school in Harare where he attends one of the most prestigious Government schools.
“We are no longer charged school fees per term because it goes up every week. Last month we were asked to pay another 300 billion Zimbabwean dollars as top up to what we had already paid as school fees,” she said.
Beth says two months ago when she was required to undergo an eye treatment, a hospital declined to treat her because her medical insurance could not afford to pay the bill.
“We have medical insurance for 600 million dollars, but I was required to pay 900 billion dollars for the treatment. It did not make sense and we are considering letting go of the medical policy because it does not help,” she says.
Beth says transportation cost in Harare is rising at least twice a day.
“Last Sunday, I paid three billion dollars in the morning to go to town, but in the evening it had shot up to 3.5 billion,” she adds.
Daniel and Beth moved from their rented house and built a wooden structure where they live to save them the burden of exorbitant rent.
Landlords demand that tenants pay rent in US dollars or the South African Rand. Most Zimbabweans, on the other hand can hardly access foreign currency. Figures boggle the mind everywhere.
Fuel shortage
Five litres of petrol would cost 85 billion Zimbabwe dollars. Less than a week ago, the same quantity was retailing at 65 billion dollars.
The energy sector is in crisis. Fuel is only available in the black market. Petrol stations in Harare do not have fuel stocks.
Most supermarket shelves were empty, with basic goods like sugar, milk and bread missing, making many Zimbabweans survive on grain handouts.
Thousands of citizens, including the professionals, have migrated to South Africa and other countries. Social amenities are crumbling down due to limited State financing.
The poor economy and the food shortage have been blamed on the land reform programmes that Mugabe had introduced. White farmers were kicked out of the country.
Mugabe accuses Britain and its allies of sabotaging his country’s economy in revenge for the land redistribution programme.
It remains unknown what the future portends for the people of Zimbabwe as they face one of the most difficult times in the country’s political history.
More than 80 people have already died in political violence between Mugabe’s Zanu-PF supporters and the opposition.
REFERENCES:
1. Calm on Criminal ‘Ethiopia’ – Hullabaloo for Zimbabwe: Jendayi Frazer’s Anti-African Lunacy
2. The ‘killing and maiming‘ going on in Zimbawe — WARNING: Pictures are very Graphic.
3. Africa Insight - This Man, Mugabe
4. Mugabe’s war with UK is decades-old
5. The world must treat Mugabe and Zenawi on equal terms
Mugabe Quote:
On Homosexuality: “…Degrades human dignity. It’s unnatural and there is no question ever of allowing these people to behave worse than dogs and pigs. If dogs and pigs do not do it, why must human beings? We have our own culture, and we must re-dedicate ourselves to our traditional values that make us human beings… What we are being persuaded to accept is sub-animal behaviour and we will never allow it here. If you see people parading themselves as lesbians and gays, arrest them and hand them over to the police!”.
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