Zimbabwe Update

We've been watching the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe for some time. We went so far as to write an open letter to Mugabeexpressing concern over the razing of housing and buildings in Zimbabwe whilst larger more important issues were at hand. Today we note that the economic situation in Zimbabwe is even worse :

Zimbabwe's inflation rate has continued its upward trend, reaching 1,193.5% in May, and putting an ever greater strain on the country's struggling economy.

The latest rise represents a climb of 150.6% on April's figure which was just above 1000%, the Central Statistics Office said.

It means goods cost about 13 times what they did a year ago, compounding the hardship many Zimbabweans experience...

Last week the Reserve Bank issued a new 100,000 Zimbabwean dollar note (equivalent to just under $1), to accommodate rocketing prices.

Zimbabwe simply cannot print it's way out of this problem. Nor can so called high profile deals with China help either. It is clear that Mugabe, who gets to fly to the Vatican in order to "pay respects" to the dead pope, does not have to deal with the consequences of his actions. While we are in complete agreement with the land reclamation, there is no way we should be silent on the complete lack of planning, coordination and rank nepotism that has plagued this so called program. The Christian Science Monitor reports that government troops have been taking over the farmland:

They told us, 'We are taking away your fields from you'," says Mr. Dube, who farms a 10-acre plot south of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second biggest city. The soldiers, who arrived last November, proceeded to plow under his tomatoes, onions, and sweet potatoes. Since 1982, these were the crops Dube had grown to pay for his children's food and school fees. Now, for the good of the nation, he was ordered to plant maize...

Zimbabwe's economy has been shrinking for the past six years and has been dependent on food aid since 2002. Eighty percent of Zimbabweans are unemployed, and food and fuel are scarcer than ever. Last month, the UN distributed emergency food aid to about one-fourth of the 12.5 million population, and said many people were surviving on one meal or less a day. This year, despite the best rains in 20 years, the government predicts the grain harvest of a country that was known as the breadbasket of southern Africa will be only half as large as in 2000, when the eviction of white commercial farmers began.

It is clear that Mugabe is simply incapable of proper leadership and needs to be replaced. Zimbabwe is a classic example of what happens when loyalty to the person rather than the people is "most important". We can only hope that the situation in Zimbabwe improves sooner rather than later.