Is no news good news?

Zimbabwe´s new government has been in office now for slightly over a week. We hear relatively little of what is going on in the country. Is that good news?

I don´t think so. I still believe that the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai have been tricked and pressured into a lose-lose situation. Mugabe and his cronies, have kept all the key ministries, where real power resides.

Morgan and his followers, winners outright in the last elections, one might add, have the " social" ministries. That is, Mugabe has destroyed the country, and now Morgan is called upon to rebuild it, under the watchful eye of Mugabe himself!

The only real recourse Morgan has is to turn to the West and ask for help. Will we come to his rescue? Humanitarian aid is needed and will be, no doubt provided, but I think that none of us will accept that a man-made disaster goes without accountability, even retribution in some cases.

I have done it again! Write about Zimbabwe. It is on my mind far too much. Poor people....

Gideon does it again!

Only yesterday I commented on Zimbabwe´s hyperinflation, and the measures Gideon Gono, the Governor of the Reserve Bank took while I was there, to try to cope. Today I wake up to the news that he has slashed a further 12 zeroes off the currency. Added to the 10 five months ago, and 3 zeroes before that, it amounts to a total of 25! ( follow the link on the title for news coverage).

The real problem in that country is whether the political agreement works. Why would Mugabe have changed his mind? It is now nearly one year since Morgan Tsvangitai won the elections outright. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Nobody was expecting it and " independent" pollers couldn´t believe it, so they hinted that maybe, he had not reached 50% of the votes cast. Mugabe and ZANU-PF took 3 weeks to react, but when they did, they rushed through this small opening and have been riding high ever since. 

I would ask Morgan not to enter the government. Time is on his side. I don´t agree with those who think that he should accept because the people are suffering too much. Mugabe is to blame for the suffering, not Tsvangirai. 

I would ask Morgan not to trust Mugabe. He has proven he is unworthy of the respect the world placed on him and his government in 1980. Let him fade away, Morgan, so that your country may rise again.

From Hyperinflation to Deflation

I have just lived in a hyper-inflationary situation for a few years. A a matter of fact, Zimbabwe has probably been the country with the highest rate of inflation in History. The actual rate is unimportant, when a loaf of bread costs 30 trillion dollars, the problem for the ordinary citizen lies elsewhere. 

When one thinks that it was less than six months ago that the Reserve Bank cut 10, that´s right, ten zeroes off the currency and for a few brief days, the dollar US hovered around 4,500, then things start getting funny. 

Again, not even 2 years ago, the Reserve Bank cut another 3 zeroes off the currency of the time. That is a total of 13 zeroes off, and still a loaf of bread is 30 trillion Zimbabwean dollars.

But the real problem is that the salary of a Teacher, or a Nurse, is also 30 trillion. That is to say their monthly salary doesn´t cover a single loaf of bread. The ZANU-PF solution: you simply make bread unavailable. You can´t find bread in Zimbabwe today.

After that experience, I come back home to Europe and find myself in a deflationary situation. All in a matter of hours! Prices of nearly all goods and services are falling quite sharply, and people are still not buying. Most European governments´ solution: spend their way out of recession and deflation. Wrong choice again! 

As one of my favorite blog writers reminded us all yesterday, Margaret Thatcher once said:  “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money”

Today I have to think that something is really very wrong with this world we live in. 

Zimbabwe once again!

Once again I have to write about Dear Zimbabwe. Everyone knows that what is going on there is tragic, a man-made humanitarian disaster. Let us hope that someday those responsible will be held accountable and judged by their peers.

If you read the link on the title of the post, this article I found in the New York Times is a good description of what is happening to those who vote with their feet, since their ballot votes do not count and are not respected by their own government or their neighbours, and decide to try to get to South Africa and work.

South Africa itself is going into elections. I fear Zimbabweans are going to be easy scapegoats for politicians trying to get elected. And I fear that violence will ensure.

Today I also got an email from a Catholic Missionary in Zimbabwe. A portion of cornmeal is 30 trillion, the same as the monthly salary of a school teacher. Can we be surprised if people try to leave?

For some of us who have invested so many years in Africa, Mugabe and his brutal regime are such a disappointment. Now just imagine for the people living in this land blessed by nature and cursed with their leaders. Since the beginning of times one might add. Bad leadership is not something of the past few years in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe: SADC´s sad failure

At the time of writing these few words, there are still conflicting reports on whether a SADC Summit held in Pretoria has finally managed to broker a deal on power-sharing in Zimbabwe. I have just landed from South Africa myself, even though I was not involved in this meeting or issue at all.

South Africa´s President Motlanthe has announced that the leader of the Opposition Morgan Tsvangirai, will be sworn in as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on February 11th.

Tsvangirai himself has, however, denied the agreement and criticized the outcome of the Summit.

In any case, why would someone who has won the elections, ( Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the fairest of the polls held in that country last March) and who has the majority in Parliament, be still called the leader of the Opposition? 

This just shows what countries in Southern Africa really think of democracy and “ one man, one vote”.

African leaders should once and for all abandon the idea that in order to lead a country you have to have had direct involvement in the “ liberation struggle”. If the people choose another way, it seems they believe it is easier to simply ignore the results of the vote, and go on with business as usual.

The problem in Zimbabwe is that this means death to some people, be it through political violence and repression or disease. This attitude is costing human lives and suffering.  Not that SADC leaders seem to care that much. And what makes things worse is that these same leaders have several millions of their own Nationals living in Zimbabwe and therefore suffering along the Zimbabweans who still remain in their country.