Your reader "Disgruntled African" says Mugabe is fighting for his people. Unfortunately this is patently false. T he people who benefit from the chaos in Zimbabwe are Mugabe, his ministers and their relatives.
Your reader "Disgruntled African" says Mugabe is fighting for his people. Unfortunately this is patently false. T he people who benefit from the chaos in Zimbabwe are Mugabe, his ministers and their relatives.
They have become billionaires overnight because of the skewed economic policies of Mugabe.
l With fuel shortages, Mugabe and his top brass are the only people with access to fuel from Noczim, a parastatal. Fuel is sold to ministers at less than R1 a litre. Remember, Zimbabwe does not even have a refinery! The "ordinary people" don't have access to this fuel. They buy on the black market where it costs R10 a litre. So ministers and their relatives resell their fuel allocations on the black market, making handsome profits. They do this with other scarce resources too.
l With food shortages the top Zanu-PF and government officials get preferential treatment when it comes to maize deliveries from GMB, a government agency. This maize is also sold on the black market where it costs 10 times the official price.
l There is a foreign currency crunch in Zim, but recently Mugabe and his officials took delivery of Toyota Prados and Mercedes-Benz's, all bought with scarce foreign currency. The government spends millions in US dollars on propaganda in New Nation. Meanwhile, hospitals don't have drugs. If Mugabe was fighting on behalf of the people this would not happen. Mugabe has allowed hospitals to deteriorate because he and his officials can easily fly out of the country if they need urgent medical care - despite one minister dying recently while receiving treatment in Johannesburg.
l Still on foreign currency, the officialrate of exchange is Zim$30000 to US$1. On the street it is more than Zim$400000. "Disgruntled African" should ask himself who benefits. Officials are first to snatch any foreign currency inflows at the official rate. That is why they can afford to send their kids to be educated in Western countries and shun Zimbabwean universities. Some students were recently expelled from Australia. Mugabe looks and sounds anti-West, but he likes the West, and no one except "Disgruntled African" is fooled.
The children of top officials live in Western countries despite Mugabe's anti-Western vitriol. Our children are sent to youth training centres to be turned into Zanu-PF zombies.
l Tsvangirai is not a headless chicken. Ask Mugabe to allow a free and fair election and Robert Mugabe will be history. Everyone in the region knows that. That is why Mugabe is panicking.
l If Mugabe is a hero, why control the press, why ban opposition meetings? If "Disgruntled African" feels Mugabe is popular, why not allow Zimbabweans in African countries to vote.
l You complain about the Lancaster House Agreement. Why were the defects, if any, only discovered in 2000?
You need to visit Zimbabwe to see the "flip-flop" economic decision-making to understand why the mess will never be cleared up as long as Mugabe is there.
Angry Zimbabwean
Vaal Triangle
People say:
Your reader "Disgruntled African" says Mugabe is fighting for his people. Unfortunately this is patently false. T he people who benefit from the chaos in Zimbabwe are Mugabe, his ministers and their relatives.
Your reader "Disgruntled African" says Mugabe is fighting for his people. Unfortunately this is patently false. T he people who benefit from the chaos in Zimbabwe are Mugabe, his ministers and their relatives.
They have become billionaires overnight because of the skewed economic policies of Mugabe.
l With fuel shortages, Mugabe and his top brass are the only people with access to fuel from Noczim, a parastatal. Fuel is sold to ministers at less than R1 a litre. Remember, Zimbabwe does not even have a refinery! The "ordinary people" don't have access to this fuel. They buy on the black market where it costs R10 a litre. So ministers and their relatives resell their fuel allocations on the black market, making handsome profits. They do this with other scarce resources too.
l With food shortages the top Zanu-PF and government officials get preferential treatment when it comes to maize deliveries from GMB, a government agency. This maize is also sold on the black market where it costs 10 times the official price.
l There is a foreign currency crunch in Zim, but recently Mugabe and his officials took delivery of Toyota Prados and Mercedes-Benz's, all bought with scarce foreign currency. The government spends millions in US dollars on propaganda in New Nation. Meanwhile, hospitals don't have drugs. If Mugabe was fighting on behalf of the people this would not happen. Mugabe has allowed hospitals to deteriorate because he and his officials can easily fly out of the country if they need urgent medical care - despite one minister dying recently while receiving treatment in Johannesburg.
l Still on foreign currency, the officialrate of exchange is Zim$30000 to US$1. On the street it is more than Zim$400000. "Disgruntled African" should ask himself who benefits. Officials are first to snatch any foreign currency inflows at the official rate. That is why they can afford to send their kids to be educated in Western countries and shun Zimbabwean universities. Some students were recently expelled from Australia. Mugabe looks and sounds anti-West, but he likes the West, and no one except "Disgruntled African" is fooled.
The children of top officials live in Western countries despite Mugabe's anti-Western vitriol. Our children are sent to youth training centres to be turned into Zanu-PF zombies.
l Tsvangirai is not a headless chicken. Ask Mugabe to allow a free and fair election and Robert Mugabe will be history. Everyone in the region knows that. That is why Mugabe is panicking.
l If Mugabe is a hero, why control the press, why ban opposition meetings? If "Disgruntled African" feels Mugabe is popular, why not allow Zimbabweans in African countries to vote.
l You complain about the Lancaster House Agreement. Why were the defects, if any, only discovered in 2000?
You need to visit Zimbabwe to see the "flip-flop" economic decision-making to understand why the mess will never be cleared up as long as Mugabe is there.
Angry Zimbabwean
Vaal Triangle
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