Zimbabwe - Articles - Zimbio

Zimbabwe launches commodities hamper scheme to beat food shortages

Tue, 16 Jul 2008 17:45:00 GMT

posted by wafaz75

Robert Mugabe and his government will not admit that they have destroyed the once vibrant economy of Zimbabwe, they would rather blame everyone else but themselves for the current economic crisis in the country. But in an effort to solve the current food and basic commodity shortages in the country, the government of Zimbabwe has introduced the Basic Commodities Accessebility programe.

But is this the answer to Zimbabwe's current food crisis?

President Robert Mugabe has launched the basic commodities accessibility programme under which basic commodities hampers will be sold directly to all households at affordable prices.
Mugabe said the government is embarking on the programme to bring relief to the people while measures are being undertaken to revitalise the economy.

But who in their right senses can trust this current government to get the country out of this mess? Today inflation stands at 2.2 million percent......the ZImbabwean dollar is now useless and the majority of the people would rather trade in foreign currency.

Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party may have used violence to remain in power, but economic problems will hit them hard. And will eventually bring down this unwanted government.

The basic commodities hamper is not a new thing to Zimbabweans, in fact many innovative Zimbabwean entreprenuers have been doing this for some years now.

But why should the government take over the function of supermarkets? People should be able to go and buy whatever they want from the shops. But this is Zimbabwe, Mugabe has destroyed the shops through his ill advised price controls.
Now he has come up with another policy which is bound to fail, most of these commodities will just end up at the black market. And the only people who will benefit, are the government officials.

Instead of blaming the current problems in Zimbabwe on sanctions, the government should look no further than their own policies of mass distraction. The economic crisis will bring this unwanted government to it's knees. Will the Chinese and Russian give them any financial support?

Zimbabwe's economy in a mess as inflation rate reach 2.2 million percent

Wed, 17 Jul 2008 14:50:00 GMT

posted by wafaz75

Already it's the highest inflation rate in the world, but today the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, Mr Gideon Gono has announced that the annual inflation rate has hit a record level of 2.2 million percent. Gono announced during the opening ceremony of a goods warehouse in Harare.

Isn't it clear for everyone to see that Mr Gono has failed? Together with the Robert Mugabe that he helps to keep in office, they have all failed and something should be done to rid the country of this regime.

One thing Zimbabwe needs right now is a complete overhaul of all systems and to remove all these people responsible for messing up and destroying the once vibrant economy.

They will not admit it, but Mugabe and his fellow cabinet ministers have failed the country. Ever since that day Mugabe authorised those not budgeted payouts to those thugs and misguided elements who masquerade as war veterans, the country has never recovered.

The violent and chaotic land re-distribution that led to the distraction of the country's' agricultural base did not help the economy either.

Then there was the DRC war, did the country benefit from all the resources that was put in that misadventure? In fact sons and daughters of Zimbabwe were lost in a war which benefited those who were looting the resources of Congo.
Where did Mugabe get the funds to finance that war, at a time the country was experiencing serious economic problems?

Is it that he used funds from the IMF/World Bank, which were meant to support the economy?

Join the debate by posting your comments.

Too much talk and no Action and the suffering continues

Tue, 16 Jul 2008 10:21:00 GMT

posted by wafaz75

According to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) this photo shows the remains of polling agent Gift Mutsvungu, whose body was found in a suburb of Harare. The MDC says 113 of it's supporters have now been killed in Zimbabwe.

Probably the world could be a better place without the type of politicians we have today. A lot of noise has been made about the current crisis in Zimbabwe, but not much is seen in terms of action. Robert Mugabe is bound to remain in power through violence and intimidation. It's so sad because the whole world is watching and making a lot of noise yet nothing meaningful seems to be happening to rid Zimbabwe of the not so wanted Robert Mugabe.

Zimbabweans were expecting the United Nations to make a statement by imposing sanctions on Mugabe and his henchman....such as a freeze on assets and travel restrictions.

Thanks to Russia and China, we may be destined for five more years of Robert Mugabe rule in Zimbabwe. Can we really afford that Zimbabwe? Hell NO!!

If Mugabe is that good, maybe the Russians and the Chinese can have him......probably he can do to their countries and people what he has done to the citizens of Zimbabwe.

But did anyone expect the Chinese Government, which has been accused of human rights violations to support any pressure against Mugabe?

So, is the UN supporting what Mugabe is doing in Zimbabwe by it's failure to take action?

Join the debate by posting your comments.

Major Defeat for UK/US Policy on Zimbabwe

Fri, 12 Jul 2008 21:19:00 GMT

posted by redstar32
The UK/US policy of isolating the Zimbabwean President and African nationalist leader Robert Mugabe is in disarray tonight as their latest move at the UN was blocked by Russia and China.

"We are very happy with the turn of events and would like to thank those who helped defeat international racism disguised as multilateral action at the U.N.," Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told Reuters.

The tactical use of the security council veto by both Russia and China to effectively block the latest aggressive moves by Washington and London will have sent shock waves through both capitals.

US and UK spokesmen will now face the humiliating task of explaining why their governments have got it so wrong on Zimbabwe.

Many other states around the world will no doubt be relieved that the combined power of China and Russia has proven to be more than a match for the rampaging US superpower and it's allies.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe on Saturday welcomed the failure of a Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolution to impose sanctions over its violent presidential elections, calling it a victory over racism and meddling in its affairs.

Russia and China on Friday vetoed the resolution, which would have imposed an arms embargo on the southern African country and financial and travel restrictions on President Robert Mugabe and 13 other officials.

Britain said Russia's veto was "incomprehensible", while Russia said sanctions would have set a dangerous precedent of political interference. Russia, China and regional powerhouse South Africa said the resolution would have hurt dialogue between the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition.

"We are very happy with the turn of events and would like to thank those who helped defeat international racism disguised as multilateral action at the U.N.," Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told Reuters.

"The principles of non-interference into the sovereign affairs of a U.N member state have been upheld. What has the U.N got to do with member states' elections?" he said.

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a March 29 presidential election but failed to get enough votes to avoid a second ballot.

Tsvangirai withdrew from the run-off poll held on June 27, citing attacks on his supporters by pro-Mugabe militia. His Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Western powers branded Mugabe's landslide re-election a sham.

The MDC is now in preliminary talks with ZANU-PF under the auspices of South African mediators, but has refused to negotiate a power-sharing deal until the government halts the bloodshed. The MDC says 113 of its supporters have been killed.

South Africa's government applauded the U.N. decision on Saturday, in line with an African Union resolution to encourage dialogue between ZANU-PF and the MDC instead.

"It is our considered view that imposing sanctions would indeed have impacted negatively on the current dialogue process among Zimbabwean political parties," it said in a statement.

Millions of people have fled to neighboring states, including South Africa, to escape an economic meltdown in Zimbabwe, which has led to widespread shortages, 80 percent unemployment and inflation economists estimate to be at least 2 million percent.

China also said the sanctions could undermine the talks and would "complicate" rather than ease the conflict.

"INCOMPREHENSIBLE"

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Saturday: "It'll appear incomprehensible to the people of Zimbabwe that Russia ... should stand in the way of Security Council action."

The Group of Eight rich nations, which includes Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler Britain, the United States as well as Russia, agreed on Tuesday to impose sanctions because of the violence during the widely condemned elections.

Despite the diplomatic setback, Miliband insisted Britain would keep up pressure on Mugabe.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, accused Russia on Friday of a "U-turn" from its position at the G8 summit, and said it raised doubts about its reliability as a partner in the group.

Russia hotly denied any policy reversal.

"We consider such statements unacceptable," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said in a statement published on the ministry's website www.mid.ru.

"Both the U.S. and United Kingdom's ambassadors to the United Nations are, in the best case, not informed about the discussion between G8 leaders in Toyako, or in the worst case are deliberately distorting facts," Nesterenko said.

Earlier, the ministry said the situation in Zimbabwe posed no danger to regional or international peace and security and did not merit sanctions.

"An adoption of such a document by the U.N. Security Council would have created a dangerous precedent, opening the way for interference by the Security Council in internal affairs in connection with certain political events including elections, which is a gross violation of the U.N. Charter," it said.

African Union should tell Mugabe his re-election is illegitimate

Sun, 30 Jun 2008 10:38:00 GMT

posted by wafaz75

African Union Leaders meeting at a summit in Egypt should openly tell Zimbabwe's Mugabe that his one-candidate election run-off is illegitimate and he should negotiate with the opposition MDC for his exit from power. Robert Mugabe is widely accused of human rights violations in Zimbabwe, and his one-candidate election run-off in the country has now been condemned by all three Africa groups monitoring the vote.

A team from the African Union monitoring the vote said, the Zimbabwe presidential run-off election fell short of standards set by the African Union.

This comes after the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the Pan-Africa parliament observer teams also condemned the Zimbabwe elections as not being free and fair and marred by violence.

Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe arrived at an African Union summit in Sharm EL-Sheikh, Egypt on Monday. Robert Mugabe, 84, flew to Egypt overnight after being sworn in for a sixth term of office.

All eyes are now on the African Union summit to see how they receive Robert Mugabe. Will African leaders reject him as illegitimate? Or they going to let down Zimbabwe again?

Robert Mugabe has failed to adhere to the guidelines on holding democratic elections as set by Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), African Union (AU) and Pan-Africa parliament. All observer groups allowed to monitor elections in Zimbabwe by the Mugabe government.

If Robert Mugabe was expecting the African observers to turn a blind eye on his shameful, violent and unfair election and give him that seal of approval he so desires, then he got it wrong this time. He is probably facing unprecedented criticism from some of his once 'loyal' African leaders.

There are chances African leaders will fail the Zimbabwean people again, but we hope they will be brave enough to directly confront Robert Mugabe.