Last week Gono announced a new monetary policy. This week there is chaos.

I am not an economist so can only try to explain in my own layperson terms what is currently going on. Maybe someone with a better understanding of this can comment.

Gono’s monetary policy has given the banks authority to purchase foreign currency at a rate determined by “demand and supply”. The banks are then to remit the money at the end of each working day to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). The reason for this, I assume, is an attempt to gain control of the blackmarket. The result is that they have basically re-legalized the dealing of foreign currency by allowing the banks to trade in it.

The immediate impact is mindblowing. (more…)

Share This

A friend told me this story at the end of last week.

Two weeks after returning to work (after going home to vote) David^* was made redundant. The company was already in debt, stock was unavailable, inflation impossible to keep up with and wages had just been increased. The delay in awaiting results and hope for the future was dwindling very fast and there was no way forward.

The company made the decision to shut down immediately. 11 staff members lost their jobs.

David received a retrenchment package. First thing he did was to repay the debt loaned to him for his transport fees – money that he had borrowed to get back to work after he went home to his rural area to vote. He paid the months rent and sent money home to help feed his family. (more…)

Share This

Natasha Msonza, blogging at Kubatana, nails it on the head with this post: Our own racists.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, Kubatana, racism, racist

Share This

A few days ago, someone who was travelling through a border by road reached the border control to find officials with very long lists of passport number and names. When asked what was going on, the official told him that the names were of opposition leaders and members. Looks like there is a concerted effort by Mugabe to stop opposition members from leaving the country.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, justice, border control, MDC, Mugabe

Share This

Now they have raised our fees again: this government has gone mad. We have no choice but to get involved in politics. We have to solve our problems politically in the end. It affects us all.

Our fees went up by 400% in January and now they have gone up 1000% in February. We cannot afford this as our parents salaries are not going up by this amount. Some of the students are radical and want to threaten the Principal but it is not his fault. It is the governemnt that is to blame!! We are told that they have reduced the subsidies and this is the result.

250 students were arrested at NUST university yesterday:

Students at the National University of Science and Technology yesterday went on the rampage and destroyed property worth billions of dollars in protest against an increase in tuition fees, which went up from $3 million to between $30 million and $90 million per semester.

But note that The Chronicle said 21!! Lies!!! We have heard that the Teachers College at Hillside is planning something today.

This IS Academic Suicide as most students will give up their studies.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, education, teachers, university, school fees, inflation, protest

Share This

This is from a friend of mine, in his words:

We run a supermarket and there is a miller close by from whom we get mealie meal when there there is some maize. We understand that there is now a directive from “up top” that tells us that we have to obtain mealie meal from an assigned miller. They are usually a big distance away from the shop and we don’t have the fuel to go and collect.

We believe that this is a way in which the Government can now blame the supermarkets and stores for the shortage. We tried to talk to someone about it and were sent to the Bulawayo Governor. He then said we had to speak to the Vice President, Msika which is very difficult for us. It seems no one wants to make a decision and tell us why this nonsense is happening. We know why as this government is failing to even give us food and they cannot admit that they are responsible.

Technorati Tags: maize, mealie meal, Zimbabwe, food supply, famine

Share This

I was so annoyed when he said to me $600,000 for a 10kg bag of mealie meal!!!! I had queued for 1 and half hours and waited for this!!!

The controlled price is $180,000 and only last week it was $ 400,000.

I only earn 4,2 million per month and I have to support my family. That means I need 30kg and that is before anything else.

How can I survive!!! The tshova (taxi) is now $60 000 per day which means I am spending 1.2 a month just to get to work.

What does it leave me?

The man must go and we can build our lives again!! We cannot survive.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, food supply, poverty, inflation

Share This

Villagers who have farmed hard and against the odds and think that they have managed to do what is necessary to feed their family in todays hard times have had a taste of zanu-pf compassion and crisis management. I was attending a funeral in my home area last week and the army were moving from village to village setting aside portions of the crop of maize for the GMB (Grain Marketing Board). Will knowing their crops are going to be taken motivate people to grow more crops next year I wonder?

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, food supply, farming, army

Share This

Today I came close to being hijacked. I got the fright of my life. Two cars were waiting facing opposite directions, and as I came past the one did a ‘u’ turn and followed me and the other followed as well. They came up fast and I got onto the cell phone but kept on getting ‘network busy’. Finally I managed to get through to a friend, but by then, after a series of right turns and me looking at them talking into the phone they slowed and I went my way. Both cars had no number plates, but I have seen so many cars with no number plates in town lately. Are the police not looking for people breaking the law anymore? The number of red lights I have seen people go through as well is scary and I have not seen one policeman patrolling or checking for law-breakers in town. I think they need to be told to get out there and do their jobs. I am too scared to go into town now with my car for fear of either being whacked at a robot or getting it stolen. Best I buy a few pairs of shoes instead and start walking.

Technorati Tags: hijacked, police, Zimbabwe, crime

Share This

I recently spoke to a friend of mine who lives at Nkulumane and she’s very amused by what is happening there.

Nkulumane has not had water now for some months. The only place residents can get water is in a dirty hole they call a watering point. Fortunately for my friend her house is not too far from this place.

She is very amused though that the police compound is not getting any water either, but they have to walk four kilometres to fill their buckets every day.

There is some justice in a funny way, and we just sit back and smile.

They have been making life so difficult for us, now they are having a little bit of their own troubles.

Zimbabwe, Poverty, Police, Water

Share This

I live in Nkulumane, one high-density suburb in Bulawayo. We have had no water for two months. We are forced to walk some kilometers to collect water from one tap that has to supply the whole area with water. The water is not clean and we have to boil it and take the dirt off the top of it and boil it again, we have to drink this, there is no other water. The city council has not
done anything to fix the problem.

We have no homes after they were all knocked down by mugabe’s people and now no water. It is not healthy, the children are dirty, we can not bath, the water we have we use for drinking. The city council needs to come and fix this water problem.

Zimbabwe Mugabe Human Rights Poverty

Share This

These are two of the victims of ‘Operation Drive Out Trash’:

Fanadi Manyere, 5 years old, died on Tuesday 28/6/05 after being run over by a car on the Bulawayo road. Early in the morning the Police began beating people and chasing them away so they could proceed with ‘Operation Drive Out Trash’. The confusion caused people to cross the Bulawayo road running away from the police. That is when Fanadi was run over - he died a hour later.

Loice Mandigora, born 1968, died after having been exposed to cold weather, on Thursday, 30/6/05. She died at 5am. Her house had been destroyed by the Police. She was ill already and exposure to cold worsened her illness. She is survived by 3 children.

These people are not trash, they’re our fellow Zimbabweans. One day, justice will be done. We’re not going to forget them.

Zimbabwe, Police, Human Rights, Justice

Share This

A friend of mine in the rural areas has told me his story so that I can send it to you. After DIDYMUS MUTASA’s ‘victory’ celebration after elections Mutasa said, ” I only got 150 votes so now you people are going to see the fire”.

So now their area is being demolished, all their homes, and property have been destroyed. Operation Murambatzvina is now affecting the rural areas, where is everyone going to go now?

There is no place for them in town and now there is no place for them in the rural areas. It seems that this clean up operation is being used by these Zanu PF thugs as retribution on these poor people because they didn’t vote for them.

What happened to Human Rights?

Zimbabwe, Human Rights, Refugees

Share This

People that have been moved from Porta farm and taken to Caledonia farm, have been told they can go back to Porta because Caledonia is overcrowded!

The remaining Porta people are being asked by Police where they want to go to because Caledonia is full.

By the way - the lorries being used in the Porta operation have Power Release Investments written on the doors. These lorries were being used in the building construction of Robert Mugabe’s mansion in Harare and are also being used at number 2 Sunlands Close, Borrowdale Brook which is owned by Gideon Gono.

Sokwanele note: Porta and Caledonia are ‘holding camps’ where the government has been forcing those who they evict from their farms to stay. Church groups from South Africa visiting the camps have today described conditions there as shocking.

Zimbabwe, Human Rights, Refugees, Corruption, Gideon Gono

Share This

A man selling buddie phone cards in Harare was detained in Harare Central Police Station for selling ‘illegally’. At 9 o clock that night he, along with 100 others like himself were taken straight to a farm in Chiredzi and forced to do manual labour for two weeks (making bricks).

There was no formal arrest, court case or fine given to him.

They were transported there and back in the dark so they are not too sure of the exact whereabouts of this farm, but it is referred to as Chiredzi farm, the place of forced labour.

Zimbabwe, Police, Human Rights, Corruption

Share This