Gold panning

The international press is currently swamped with reports of the arrests of over 25 000 gold panners in Zimbabwe. Operation Chikorokoza Chapera ("No Illegal Panning") was launched in November last year, ostensibly to bring gold panning activities under control. With the implosion of the economy, this sector had been burgeoning, albeit illegally in most cases, as poverty-stricken Zimbabweans endlessly struggle to provide for themselves and their families. Make no mistake, this loss of livelihood is not an incidental side-effect of the operation, but it is its very raison d'etre. Just as they did with Operation Murambatsvina (Clean Out Filth) in 2005, the regime has purposely set out to destroy this activity, and with it, the lives of those involved.

This brutal operation is tantamount to genocide with constructive intent - the authors knew in advance that their actions would lead to death by starvation, depriving the poorest of the poor of their only - and last - means of feeding themselves and their families.

Not only have livelihoods been eliminated, but lives too. Since the beginning of January, the press - muzzled as it is - has still been able to report deaths as disused mines collapse on miners who are tear-gassed as they hide, seeking to evade arrest and others who have been shot by a police force bent on serving its despotic leader.

The succession three

Since last October, plenty of column space has been devoted to the split in the MDC. The subject has been debated and discussed ad nauseam in the streets, on commuter omnibuses, and in the independent and government press. Not surprisingly, the government mouthpieces, the Herald and the Chronicle, have rapturously embraced this topic. Not surprising, we say, because the split was assisted by Zanu PF and the CIO, and has successfully diverted attention away from the shambles that this country is in, courtesy of the regime's consistent failure on all accounts. Zanu PF itself is riven by splits, as a careful reading of the newspapers will show; how convenient for them to be able to divert attention from their own splits by looking at the rifts in the MDC!

So, in defiance of their strategy, we draw our eyes away from the opposition, and refocus on the ruling party, Zanu PF, the true cause of the country's woes.

The cracks that are apparent have appeared along three main fault lines: firstly, the scapegoats or sacrificial lambs such as Christopher Kuruneri and even Philip Chiyangwa; secondly, there is a strong link to the succession debate as bigwigs jostle for the top job of President, and their minions line up behind them; and thirdly, the inevitable casualties from internecine warfare caused by personal ambition and regional turf wars.

The scapegoats

Christopher Kuruneri must be the shortest-lived Finance Minister ever: he was appointed in February 2004, and just a couple of weeks thereafter was arrested and charged with illegally exporting foreign currency, under the Exchange Control Act.

New currency

Images of Operation Sunrise's advertising campaign here

From 1 August 2006, Zimbabwe has a new currency. The last three digits of the old currency have been lopped off to create the revalued dollar. The regime has dubbed this "Operation Sunrise", and we are serenaded with the slogans "Zero to Hero" and "Restore value".

This change has been necessitated by the effect of inflation on the Zimbabwe economy, where shopping was done in millions, if not billions, and large bundles of cash were needed for the simplest transactions.

Roadblocks manned by the Youth Militia (or so-called Green Bombers) have been set up to catch "unpatriotic" Zimbabweans who were carrying in excess of the legal limit of $100 million (old dollars). Banks have been instructed to seize sums deposited by individuals in excess of this amount, pending Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) investigation into the source of the funds.