Another moronic move by Zimbabwe

[Ice]

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- Zimbabwe's government introduced a bill Thursday to give Zimbabweans majority ownership of foreign companies, a move critics say will deepen the economic crisis.

Critics of the Zimbabwe government fear a bill against foreign companies will worsen the economic crisis.

If passed it would give the government sweeping powers over how foreign companies, including mines, operate in Zimbabwe.

Critics accuse veteran leader President Robert Mugabe of trying to push through the empowerment bill to extend his patronage and focus attention from Zimbabwe's economic turmoil. Mugabe is seeking another five-year term in presidential elections next year.

Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Paul Mangwana told parliament the bill would create an environment that would increase the "participation of indigenous people in Zimbabwe".

The draft was passed to a parliamentary legal committee shortly after it was introduced. It is likely to pass because Mugabe's ZANU-PF party dominates parliament, analysts say.

Critics say it is reminiscent of Mugabe's controversial policy of seizing white-owned farms to give to landless blacks, which many say triggered the economic crisis.

Empowerment of Zimbabwean companies could drain what little confidence there is left in the country and step up pressure on Mugabe to show he is in control, analysts say.

"There was no doubt they would push it through before the elections because it's designed to garner votes," said economic commentator Eric Bloch.

"What remains to be seen is how vigorously they are going to implement it, but it's certainly going to discourage investors."

Analysts say Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is too weak and divided to pose a political challenge to Mugabe, who has been in power for 27 years.

But critics hope sanctions imposed by Western powers, along with economic turmoil, will eventually bring down Mugabe's government.

"The timing is terrible because the image out there is already one of mistrust, and after the way the government handled the land issue, this bill raises that question again about the security of investment and respect for property rights," said John Robertson, a private economic consultant.

Zimbabwe's inflation rate, already the highest in the world, jumped to a new record high of 7,634.8 percent in July according to official data.

Economists said the figure underestimated inflation due to price controls imposed at the end of June which sparked frenzied buying and emptied shop shelves.

The International Monetary Fund said last month inflation may reach 100,000 percent by year-end.

In recent years Zimbabwe has suffered from shortages of fuel, food and foreign currency as well as security crackdowns, forcing many to flee the country to neighboring states.

Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980, accuses Western powers of sabotaging the economy in retaliation for the land seizures. He denies widespread accusations of human rights abuses, including torture.

An MDC official Wednesday accused the government of taking measures to prevent its supporters from registering to vote in next year's election.

But South Africa, which is mediating between the two parties, said Thursday it was confident that talks will "lay the foundation for free and fair elections", although Western diplomats doubt that the negotiations will succeed.

Mugabe, a former liberation hero, is also pushing for a bill that will give him room to choose a successor if he were to retire.

Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Paul Mangwana told parliament the bill would create an environment that would increase the "participation of indigenous people in Zimbabwe".

:dizzy2:

[Marshal Murat]

Maybe it might work.
Going against the man has worked in the past.

Like not compensating the white farmers.
Giving the new plots to family members and dependants
Re-settling farmers into the wilderness
Forcing stores to sell materials at under-inflation prices.

[JR-]

hmmm, how much will they have to suffer before the people of zimbabwe do something about their plight.

[rory_20_uk]

Good thing they got rid of the Big Bad Colonial masters, isn't it?

I think we are missing the bigger picture: no one has yet blamed Britain for all the troubles.

~:smoking:

[InsaneApache]

Mugabe does. :dizzy2:

[naut]

Maybe it might work.
Are you serious? Please explain how removing people with skills and experience and replacing them with uneducated and unskilled people will possibly work.

[Conradus]

Are you serious? Please explain how removing people with skills and experience and replacing them with uneducated and unskilled people will possibly work.

Because they don't know what can't be done?:2thumbsup:

Seriously though, I wonder how long Mugabe can keep his control over Zimbabwe, they're must be some people who realize what he's doing to the country by now.

[HoreTore]

Well, I can't really see how things can become any worse... It might look worse on paper, but I can't really see how things can get any worse for the average(poor) citizen...

[InsaneApache]

I dunno, I suspect it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

[Spetulhu]

As if anyone cares. It's darkest Africa, :shame:

[Papewaio]

I think we are missing the bigger picture: no one has yet blamed Britain for all the troubles.

~:smoking:

That would be superfluous.

:clown:

[Odin]

Its Britians fault.

[HoreTore]

I'd say Lichtenstein is the real culprit here. They're behind it all.

[Ronin]

You´ve all ben tricked!!

it is obvious that Buthan is behind this!!!

[Odin]

Seriously, this is hardly surprising given mugabee's track record. He's nationalizing the mining and resource industries to sure up his grip on power for the pending election.

Hardly surprising, but in all candeor its there country unless he is moving toward genocidal policies, let them reap what they sow.

[rory_20_uk]

Don't worry - when its poor black on black deaths we can call it an "incident" until well over 500,000 are dead. Then we can send in a fact finding mission...

ANd since Pax Britannia ended just under a century ago, someone else can send people do go and die sorting this one out.We've sent our "army" to get shot up by the Yanks in 2 countries already.

~:smoking:

[Odin]

Don't worry - when its poor black on black deaths we can call it an "incident" until well over 500,000 are dead. Then we can send in a fact finding mission...

ANd since Pax Britannia ended just under a century ago, someone else can send people do go and die sorting this one out.We've sent our "army" to get shot up by the Yanks in 2 countries already.

~:smoking:

Great post rory, have i ever told you you are my favorite poster from the UK with a 2 and a 0 in your nick?

Anyway, i agree with the later statement and even further as a U.S. Citizen budding libertarian I'd rather the russians, chinese, india or the UN tackle africa and any pending genocides.

I dont want to be involved in anymore folly abroad, unless the twins in Poland decide to revolt against the EU, then I might consider a change in position.

Otherwise, lets let one of the new emerging "super powers" deal with this one. China specifically, they seem to be the ones with the most intrest in the resources there, and what a wonderful road map to follow via the U.S. wars of resources in the middle east !

Not that we didnt take our lead from the ancient empires of the UK and France, but you know how learning is with children, they always think they can do it better, faster, cheaper then thier elders.

[Lemur]

I still think, when all is said and done, that Mugabe is responsible for the biggest mass death (some people get tetchy about using the word "genocide") of our time.

Ripping the heart out of the heartlands (http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9687429&CFID=16953583&CFTOKEN=17176021)

Aug 23rd 2007 | MASHONALAND
From The Economist print edition
Food becomes scarcer, even in Robert Mugabe's rural strongholds

THE meeting of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Zambia last week provided scant hope for the people of Zimbabwe. Few details emerged from behind the closed doors, but Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa, who currently chairs the regional body and had previously compared Zimbabwe to a sinking Titanic, declared that problems in the neighbouring country were “exaggerated”. With 80% unemployment, inflation that could now be over 10,000%, and severe shortages of the most basic goods, many Zimbabweans may disagree. Over 3m of them are thought to have left the country, and the UN refugee agency is working on contingency plans in case the exodus worsens.

Another UN agency, the World Food Programme, reckons that 4m Zimbabweans—about one-third of the population—will need food aid by the beginning of next year. The harvest of maize, the local staple food, was meagre this year. Rains have been poor, and the government's disastrous land-reform programme has turned once flourishing commercial farming into subsistence agriculture.

This is plain to see in rural Mashonaland, the area around the capital, Harare, and the traditional heartland of President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF. Most of the land where tobacco and maize used to grow lies fallow, taken over by wild vegetation. A few hours' drive south of Harare, a commercial farm that used to grow maize and rear cattle has now been divided into 35 plots where subsistence farmers try to scrape a living. The irrigation system and the water pump that once turned the harsh terrain into fertile soil and provided drinking water broke down long ago. Only one of the 100 or so farm workers who used to work there remains. His small plot is dry, and he has to walk several kilometres to get water from a neighbouring farm. He reckons he has enough maize to feed his family until November. When his stock runs out, he'll be lucky to get one meal a day until the next harvest, in March or April.

A school was set up on the farm, and one of the teachers now lives in the main house, which was looted when the white owner was evicted. Even light switches have been ripped from the walls, not that they would be of much use now. There is electricity a few hours a day only, usually at night. The taps ran dry a long time ago.

The school is in a small building that used to house farm workers. Teachers and parents have joined forces to try to make it work. Benches are made up of old planks balanced on brick stacks, and makeshift tables have been built from scrap wood. None of the three tiny classrooms has any windows or doors left. School fees are 20,000 Zimbabwean dollars a term—or 11 American cents at the black-market exchange rate—but some parents cannot afford even that. The teacher says that a third of children in the area do not go to school at all.

Nearby, two of his pupils are staring up a tree, slingshots in hand. They are hunting a monkey, their only chance of eating meat. The youngest, wearing shorts that reveal his bony legs, says they manage two meals a day: tea and bread, when available, for breakfast, and maize porridge later in the day. His battered shoes are far too big and the laces are tied around his ankles to keep them from flying off. He lives 4km (2.5 miles) away and walks to school.

In another part of Mashonaland, a white commercial farmer tries to hang on, having lost the bulk of his farm to a senior government official and a few war veterans. He is one of the 350 or so commercial farmers thought to be left, from 4,500 before the government started redistributing land in 2000. A portrait of Mr Mugabe hangs on the office wall and he maintains good relations with local officials. The farmer points out that he is not fighting land redistribution itself. But some buildings (including his own house), valuable equipment and crops already planted have been taken over as well, so he is fighting that in court.

He has scaled back cash crops such as wheat and maize massively, and focuses on exports of citrus and tobacco, which bring much-needed foreign exchange. The next crops will need to be planted soon. Uncertain about the farm's future, he ponders over whether to make the investment. From 1,200 workers, he now employs only about 500. “We are going one way,” he says. “Down.”

The farm no longer makes money, but cheap government loans and heavily subsidised diesel help to keep him going. He also plants and harvests on neighbouring farms, which have been reallocated to black owners, and gets half the crop. Many new landowners find that reselling their subsidised diesel on the black market is far more lucrative than farming.

Presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe are scheduled for next March. The ruling party has been accused of leaning on traditional chiefs to control rural voters. Road-blocks in Mashonaland are frequent. In Chegutu, close to Mr Mugabe's home, shops are depressingly bare, and the struggling local factories and farms have laid off workers. But after years of intimidation, the opposition has almost disappeared. There is little visible security presence. Not so in Marondera, 45 minutes south-east of Harare, where the much-feared youth militia roam the streets and the atmosphere is tense.

Voter registration has just finished. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a local NGO, reports serious irregularities, with rural voters loyal to ZANU-PF registering in cities, presumably to dilute support for the opposition, strongest in urban areas. But Zimbabweans will no doubt be cheered to know that the SADC's leaders, at the end of their Lusaka summit, wished elections next year to be free and fair.

[Odin]

I still think, when all is said and done, that Mugabe is responsible for the biggest mass death (some people get tetchy about using the word "genocide") of our time.

Ripping the heart out of the heartlands (http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9687429&CFID=16953583&CFTOKEN=17176021)

Aug 23rd 2007 | MASHONALAND
From The Economist print edition
Food becomes scarcer, even in Robert Mugabe's rural strongholds

THE meeting of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Zambia last week provided scant hope for the people of Zimbabwe. Few details emerged from behind the closed doors, but Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa, who currently chairs the regional body and had previously compared Zimbabwe to a sinking Titanic, declared that problems in the neighbouring country were “exaggerated”. With 80% unemployment, inflation that could now be over 10,000%, and severe shortages of the most basic goods, many Zimbabweans may disagree. Over 3m of them are thought to have left the country, and the UN refugee agency is working on contingency plans in case the exodus worsens.

Another UN agency, the World Food Programme, reckons that 4m Zimbabweans—about one-third of the population—will need food aid by the beginning of next year. The harvest of maize, the local staple food, was meagre this year. Rains have been poor, and the government's disastrous land-reform programme has turned once flourishing commercial farming into subsistence agriculture.

This is plain to see in rural Mashonaland, the area around the capital, Harare, and the traditional heartland of President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF. Most of the land where tobacco and maize used to grow lies fallow, taken over by wild vegetation. A few hours' drive south of Harare, a commercial farm that used to grow maize and rear cattle has now been divided into 35 plots where subsistence farmers try to scrape a living. The irrigation system and the water pump that once turned the harsh terrain into fertile soil and provided drinking water broke down long ago. Only one of the 100 or so farm workers who used to work there remains. His small plot is dry, and he has to walk several kilometres to get water from a neighbouring farm. He reckons he has enough maize to feed his family until November. When his stock runs out, he'll be lucky to get one meal a day until the next harvest, in March or April.

A school was set up on the farm, and one of the teachers now lives in the main house, which was looted when the white owner was evicted. Even light switches have been ripped from the walls, not that they would be of much use now. There is electricity a few hours a day only, usually at night. The taps ran dry a long time ago.

The school is in a small building that used to house farm workers. Teachers and parents have joined forces to try to make it work. Benches are made up of old planks balanced on brick stacks, and makeshift tables have been built from scrap wood. None of the three tiny classrooms has any windows or doors left. School fees are 20,000 Zimbabwean dollars a term—or 11 American cents at the black-market exchange rate—but some parents cannot afford even that. The teacher says that a third of children in the area do not go to school at all.

Nearby, two of his pupils are staring up a tree, slingshots in hand. They are hunting a monkey, their only chance of eating meat. The youngest, wearing shorts that reveal his bony legs, says they manage two meals a day: tea and bread, when available, for breakfast, and maize porridge later in the day. His battered shoes are far too big and the laces are tied around his ankles to keep them from flying off. He lives 4km (2.5 miles) away and walks to school.

In another part of Mashonaland, a white commercial farmer tries to hang on, having lost the bulk of his farm to a senior government official and a few war veterans. He is one of the 350 or so commercial farmers thought to be left, from 4,500 before the government started redistributing land in 2000. A portrait of Mr Mugabe hangs on the office wall and he maintains good relations with local officials. The farmer points out that he is not fighting land redistribution itself. But some buildings (including his own house), valuable equipment and crops already planted have been taken over as well, so he is fighting that in court.

He has scaled back cash crops such as wheat and maize massively, and focuses on exports of citrus and tobacco, which bring much-needed foreign exchange. The next crops will need to be planted soon. Uncertain about the farm's future, he ponders over whether to make the investment. From 1,200 workers, he now employs only about 500. “We are going one way,” he says. “Down.”

The farm no longer makes money, but cheap government loans and heavily subsidised diesel help to keep him going. He also plants and harvests on neighbouring farms, which have been reallocated to black owners, and gets half the crop. Many new landowners find that reselling their subsidised diesel on the black market is far more lucrative than farming.

Presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe are scheduled for next March. The ruling party has been accused of leaning on traditional chiefs to control rural voters. Road-blocks in Mashonaland are frequent. In Chegutu, close to Mr Mugabe's home, shops are depressingly bare, and the struggling local factories and farms have laid off workers. But after years of intimidation, the opposition has almost disappeared. There is little visible security presence. Not so in Marondera, 45 minutes south-east of Harare, where the much-feared youth militia roam the streets and the atmosphere is tense.

Voter registration has just finished. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a local NGO, reports serious irregularities, with rural voters loyal to ZANU-PF registering in cities, presumably to dilute support for the opposition, strongest in urban areas. But Zimbabweans will no doubt be cheered to know that the SADC's leaders, at the end of their Lusaka summit, wished elections next year to be free and fair.

i am curious lemur, given your stated position that you believe he is responsible
for the biggest mass death (some people get tetchy about using the word "genocide") of our time. Do you have an opinion as to how he and his government should be handeled?

I agree that by world standards he is one of the bad guys, no doubt, however does he merit a solution outside of the human processes inside his country?

[HoreTore]

Well, giving Mugabe the entire blame must mean that there was an easy way some years back to prevent all of this. Was there? I think Mugabe had little control over the overall state of things. However, I think we can blame him for making it worse, but the economical crisis as a whole is more than a little too much IMO.

[InsaneApache]

I think Mugabe had little control over the overall state of things.

This is true. He had nothing to do with it. It's all Britains and Americas fault.

[HoreTore]

This is true. He had nothing to do with it. It's all Britains and Americas fault.

Well.... I never said that he didn't have anything to do with it, he was/is no doubt a great contributor. But there are countless factors involved when economies crumble, you can't point at one thing and say "that's the problem!". If your "average Joe President" ran things instead of Mugabe, would this still have happened? My guess is that it would.

[Lemur]

Do you have an opinion as to how he and his government should be handeled?
First of all, it's Britain's fault, obviously.

If the United States were to get involved, I think we would invade Angola. That would teach Zimbabwe that we mean business. Teach the whole neighborhood, really.

Robert Mugabe is a autogenocidal villain in the same vein as Mao, Stalin and Pol Pot. I'll throw the question right back at you, Odin -- what should have been done in Rwanda? In Cambodia? In the Congo? Is there something meaningful the int'l community can do when a country's ruling class goes insane?

[Odin]

First of all, it's Britain's fault, obviously.

If the United States were to get involved, I think we would invade Angola. That would teach Zimbabwe that we mean business. Teach the whole neighborhood, really.

Robert Mugabe is a autogenocidal villain in the same vein as Mao, Stalin and Pol Pot. I'll throw the question right back at you, Odin -- what should have been done in Rwanda? In Cambodia? In the Congo? Is there something meaningful the int'l community can do when a country's ruling class goes insane?

If I took your answer as genuine, which is becoming harder and harder to do lemur... (whats your real answer Lemur, what do you think?) your suggestion is rather silly. If its not a direct answer, and a bit of rhetorical banter, thats a shame, I was hoping you would take a position as to a resolution on your claim the he is responsible
for the biggest mass death (some people get tetchy about using the word "genocide") of our time. .

Tell you what, I'll answer your question to me:
what should have been done in Rwanda? In Cambodia? In the Congo? My personal opinion is targeted sanctions of military sales, and allow the UN to take the lead in the resolution (Korea 1950 comes to mind, granted its a different era).


Is there something meaningful the int'l community can do when a country's ruling class goes insane?

Meaningful is subjective to an individuals ethics. However there are sanctions IE NK, Lybia, and to a degree Iraq (before we screwed it up) Other then that the only meaningful move an international community can do is engage in warfare on behalf of one or the other parties.

Now back to you. Your answer was invade angola, cute, and expected, however now that I have set the ground work for you based on my answers for a limited amount of responses, surely you must have your own opinion outside of the comic.

Of course, you dont have to answer to me. I am just curious lemur, in your opinion what would you prefer to be done about this mass murderer?

If possible, I prefer a direct answer and not follow up questions, I dont desire a back and forth this time I just would like to see what you truly think on the matter.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Zim, Zim...what a tragedy. I won't even attempt to write what I think about Mugabe. He could well hold the world record for the most effective and utter ruination of a promising country. ~:mecry:

It is not feasible, maybe even immoral, but the most humane thing to do for the average Zimbabwean would be for Britain to re-colonise the place. :shame:

Ah well, I guess his foreign African buddies can pride themselves for their unwavering support for their great warrior hero, who showed the Settlers who's in charge in Africa. And his own cronies can pride themselves on having cleared Zimbabwe of such western decadencies as gays and aids. [edit: /bitter sarcasm]

[Lemur]

Okay, if you really must have an honest answer:

I don't know.

Sanctions tend to make life unbearable for the joe-sixpack, while rarely resulting in regime change. (The ruler is able to say, "See? It isn't my corruption or mismanagement, it's those evil international people who are making you suffer." And shockingly, it works.)

Embargoes on military goods are a natural and effective tool, but often broken by the neighbors.

Direct military action is problematic due to the Powell Rule ("You break it, you own it.")

As far as Zimbabwe goes, the best thing would be to apply pressure on South Africa, which is doing more than any other nation to prop up Mugabe's regime. Look into the fun and games they're playing with Zimbabwe's electricity for an example. If Mugabe's neighbors got serious about isolating him, things might change. But I don't see that there's a direct role for Europe or America beyond sanctions and int'l arrest warrants. The most good we can do will come from putting the squeeze on his neighbors.

Is someone seriously arguing that the mess in Zimbabwe is not Mugabe's fault?

[Odin]

Okay, if you really must have an honest answer:

I don't know.

Sanctions tend to make life unbearable for the joe-sixpack, while rarely resulting in regime change. (The ruler is able to say, "See? It isn't my corruption or mismanagement, it's those evil international people who are making you suffer." And shockingly, it works.)

Embargoes on military goods are a natural and effective tool, but often broken by the neighbors.

Direct military action is problematic due to the Powell Rule ("You break it, you own it.")

As far as Zimbabwe goes, the best thing would be to apply pressure on South Africa, which is doing more than any other nation to prop up Mugabe's regime. Look into the fun and games they're playing with Zimbabwe's electricity for an example. If Mugabe's neighbors got serious about isolating him, things might change. But I don't see that there's a direct role for Europe or America beyond sanctions and int'l arrest warrants. The most good we can do will come from putting the squeeze on his neighbors.

Is someone seriously arguing that the mess in Zimbabwe is not Mugabe's fault?

Thanks Lemur.

Part of the reason I pressed was to see if we had common ground, apparantly we do. In all honesty I didnt think that was likely, but your answer is educated (the south african example) and fairly concise.


The most good we can do will come from putting the squeeze on his neighbors.

well said, we agree. The snowball fight in hell starts promptly at 2:30 est.

[JR-]

Well, giving Mugabe the entire blame must mean that there was an easy way some years back to prevent all of this. Was there? I think Mugabe had little control over the overall state of things. However, I think we can blame him for making it worse, but the economical crisis as a whole is more than a little too much IMO.
so a country that was previously known as the bread-basket of africa exporting millions of tonnes of grain, now the net recipient of millions of tonnes of grain with 2600% inflation, is anything other than Mugabes fault?

[JR-]

Okay, if you really must have an honest answer:

I don't know.

Embargoes on military goods are a natural and effective tool, but often broken by the neighbors.


unfortunately, africa's general poverty combined with its love affair with the panga (machete) means that weapons embargo's will have little effect on the level of blood shed.

[Marshal Murat]

I need to use the sarcasm button more often....

[Ironside]

Well.... I never said that he didn't have anything to do with it, he was/is no doubt a great contributor. But there are countless factors involved when economies crumble, you can't point at one thing and say "that's the problem!". If your "average Joe President" ran things instead of Mugabe, would this still have happened? My guess is that it would.
Your average "Joe President" in a normal western country would probably misspretty vital stuff, like a head if he ran the country like Mugabe.

To make a simile (is metaphor a better word here?) to a more western country, be basically came up with the idea the labour means "working only with your hands" while reading something communistic, so he confiscated all the factories, burned them down and then hunted out all the people that had the industrial experience, and then gave it to the supporters workers.
And then not getting the economical disaster at all.

So, no your "average Joe President" wouldn't cause this.

[Papewaio]

Well.... I never said that he didn't have anything to do with it, he was/is no doubt a great contributor. But there are countless factors involved when economies crumble, you can't point at one thing and say "that's the problem!". If your "average Joe President" ran things instead of Mugabe, would this still have happened? My guess is that it would.

Considering that Mugabe has been head of Zimbabwe for 27 years, that in that period his reforms have destroyed one of the most promising African nations, I think your statement shows an appalling lack of research.

You can start with a primer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mugabe.

[HoreTore]

Considering that Mugabe has been head of Zimbabwe for 27 years, that in that period his reforms have destroyed one of the most promising African nations, I think your statement shows an appalling lack of research.

Might be very true indeed. It's Africa after all...

[Papewaio]

... And the Zimbabwe cricket team was becoming almost viable...

[Marshal Murat]

Zimbabwe would have had it made with UK paying compensation to the 1% (research is required) of white farmers who owned 80% of the arable (?) land.
If 'Joe President' had wanted to really prevent the destruction of the farming land, he shouldn't have given the lands over to family members and friends, who would probably own the new 80% of the arable land.

[drone]

Well, Zimbabwe has run out of bread, and the government even admits it's land reform has failed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,,2181086,00.html
Zimbabwe's bakeries have shut and supermarkets have warned there will be no bread for the foreseeable future as the government admitted that wheat production had collapsed following the seizure of white-owned farms.

The agricultural ministry announcement that the wheat harvest is only about a third of what is required, and that imports are held up by lack of hard currency, came as a deadline passed today for the last white farmers to leave their land or face prosecution for trespass.

Article continues
The maize harvest is expected to be equally dire and price controls to contain hyperinflation have emptied the stores of most other foodstuffs. The World Food Programme says at least 3 million people - one in four of the population - will need food aid in the coming months. It describes hunger in some parts of the country, which used to be a food exporter, as "acutely serious".

Last week, the government said it plans to import 100,000 tonnes of wheat but acknowledged that a shipment of 35,000 tonnes was held up in Mozambique because of a shortage of hard currency to pay for it.

The agriculture minister, Rugare Gumbo, has blamed the food shortages on black farmers who have taken over formerly white-owned land.

"I am painfully aware of the widespread theft of stock, farm produce, irrigation equipment and the general vandalism of infrastructure by our new farmers," he said.

"I am disappointed that our new farmers have proved to be failures since the start of the land reform programme in 2000. In spite of all the support government has been pouring into the agricultural sector, productivity and under-utilisation of land remain issues of concern."
October 1st was the day that all white farmers had to leave their farms. This snippet also does not bode well:
Zimbabwe's economic problems are likely to be compounded by a law passed last week that compels many publicly owned companies, including foreign firms, to sell a majority of their equity to black Zimbabweans.

Critics say the legislation amounts to expropriation because it effectively forces the companies to hand over half of their value by taxing them to raise the money to "buy" the 51% stake for black investors approved by the government.

The government has ignored the protests of some foreign investors, including South African banks and mining houses. With the collapse of tobacco production, mining is now the country's largest source of foreign currency.

Zimbabwe's minister of indigenisation, Paul Mangwana, said those companies that do not like it can "pack their bags and go".

"If they feel that we went into the bush [to fight against white rule] for them to enjoy our wealth then they can leave. We are talking about the total liberation of this country. I have no apologies for that," he said.

A sad situation, but I do find it somewhat humorous that the pot crop hasn't been affected...

[Seamus Fermanagh]

At least they'll be free of White oppression in any form.

I pity their neighbors, though. After famine and disease comes the war of agresssion.

[Tribesman]

I pity their neighbors, though. After famine and disease comes the war of agresssion.

Didn't they already do that , their armies actions in neighbouring states is what got the arms embargo put in place(not that it is effective) .

[Hepcat]

I have a friend who's family was among the white farmers forced to leave Zimbabwe despite having lived there for generations. Armed government thugs arrived and told them they had 24 hours to get off their family property or they'd be shot. I have never inquired anymore about it because he hates talking about it, but I assume that his parents took the family over here straight away after that.

I cannot even imagine having 24 hours to take up all your worldly possessions and leave. I realise there were injustices in the past and, heck, his ancestors probably did some horrible things to the local people to get that land, but there are better ways to reclaim land. Although it's probably just wishful thinking. :wall:

But in my opinion if you become so fixated with destroying the opposition and making enemies then this is bound to happen in the end, unless you start to make ammends. It happened with North Korea, now they're finally starting to realise they can't win. I wonder how long it'll take for Mugabe to wake up to reality.

[Lt Nevermind]

As far as I've understood the situation, it seems to be 'critical'. Inflation sky high, no food, a quarter of the population as refugees... I can't even name an event this catastrofic since ww2 and the country isn't even facing war(!). Ever wondered how long one can hold his breath under water? Seems like zimbabwe's pushing the reckords.

[naut]

For all my ideals and hopes, here's what I see realistically as the simple truth, there will be no resolution, Zimbabwe is so far past the post it will never revive to what it was before. Somebody should have put a bullet through Mugabe's cerebral cortex along time ago.

Drone that article is very good at summing up the situation. :2thumbsup:

[macsen rufus]

Somebody should have put a bullet through Mugabe's cerebral cortex along time ago.


:yes: though it pains me to say so, as I generally oppose the death penalty. There is a much stronger case for a "regime change" intervention in Zimbabwe than there ever was in Iraq.

The problem will not be solved whilst Mugabe still holds power, that is clear. Zimbabwe should be one of Africa's richest nations and it has been destroyed for the vanity, ultimately, of one man. Whilst we can cheer the "overthrow of colonialism", this new start for the country has been nothing of the sort. Mugabe loudly blames Britain for many of Zimbabwe's woes, and he may have a minor point in some instances, maybe Britain could have handled the changeover better, maybe the "Mother Country" could have offered even more help and support and subsidy for the fledgeling. But I doubt it could have helped.

In principle, land reform was needed, but it was badly implemented - I don't think it's an exagerration to call it nationalisation at gun point. The white farmers (many of whom had abhorable attitudes like their Afrikaaner neighbours) should not have been dispossessed without compensation - yes, in the past there were horrible events, but the 'sins of the father' etc - the sons & daughters have put in much time and effort in their own right, and right or wrong, they were still the ones with the practical and business knowledge to keep the sector working. Giving someone a patch of land - no matter their "rights" to have it - doesn't make them a farmer. I'm sure if the English countryside was divided up and distributed to the inhabitants of England, that countryside would be a shambles in five years, too. Zimbabwe lacked a "Truth and Reconciliation" process which has done much to ease the transition from apartheid in South Africa, and with that she lost so much of her capacity to operate economically.

So long as Mugabe remains, there is no hope of a recovery from the ground up. People have no incentive to work or invest if they fear that a capricious government can take away what they have earned by their own efforts. "Playing by the rules" doesn't work, the situation is now so desparate everyone needs to cheat everyone else to survive. I think figures like "10,000% inflation" whilst spectacular, are largely meaningless, and should be replaced with "lacking a functional monetary economy".

But the big question, what can be done about it? I really don't know, it looks a problem so huge as to induce despair. Mugabe must go, it remains to be seen whether there is any merit left in Zanu PF, there have been some positive signs there of a desire for change, but I believe that was quashed months ago. The opposition is weak but resilient, and as pointed out, largely urban. I doubt they will be great thinkers on agrarian issues, and the agricultural sector must be revived if any sort of stability is to be achieved. Zimbabwe's neighbours must take a lead role - they have the most to lose after Zimbabwe herself. They should ditch their support for Mugabe, but it will be politically difficult to dump a "liberation hero" no matter what sort of a tyrant he is.