Zim economy set for Armegeddon

[sabadgeman]

Zim economy set for Armegeddon
23/06/2008 14:45 - (SA)

Harare - With President Robert Mugabe assured of "victory" in the now one-man presidential runoff election on Friday, Zimbabwe will have to face an economic disaster worse than it has ever experienced, economists warned Monday.

Following the announcement on Sunday by Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, that he was withdrawing "from this violent, illegitimate sham of an electoral process," Mugabe's Zanu(PF) declared it would nevertheless proceed with the election and "romp home to victory."

Violence in the capital reached a new pitch on Sunday as mobs of Mugabe's Zanu(PF) militias, armed with sticks, stopped what was to have been Tsvangirai's only major rally in the 11-week election campaign by occupying the site of his rally, and later roamed townships and the city centre, harassing and assaulting passers-by.

Hospital sources said 86 people had been treated for injuries. "God knows how many others there were who didn't seek attention, for one reason or another," said one doctor who asked not to be named.

MDC sources said party lawyers were drafting a statement of withdrawal to the state-run Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. Earlier, ZEC chairpersom George Chiweshe said that without a formal statement from Tsvangirai, the election would have to proceed.

Sunday's development came as a combination of hyperinflation, the accelerating crash of the currency and food shortages reached new proportions.

On Monday, only limited supplies of bread were briefly available in bakeries and supermarkets, while maize meal, the national staple, had all but disappeared from not just supermarkets, but the black market as well.

The main headline from state propaganda the daily Herald trumpeted: "Government rolls out basic commodities under an official programme called the 'Basic Commodities Restocking Programme'" at a just launched system of government stores, purportedly selling at prices a tenth of what goods retail for on the market.

However, business people pointed out that the government has so far opened only one of what it calls "the People's Shops," while supermarkets in the capital were marked by row upon row of empty shelves.

The exchange rate offered by banks was reported to have fallen from US$1 to Z$7.5bn on Friday down to US$1 to $Z12bn on Monday.

"It's a crisis in every possible direction," said economist John Robertson. "Financially they (the government) are stymied and they cannot move in any direction. They can't do anything about it."

Those Zimbabweans with salaries are finding it increasingly difficult to lay their hands on their money, and to spend it. Increasingly, shops are refusing to accept cheques, because in the five days it takes for a cheque to be cleared, its value will have fallen to a fraction of what it was at the time of the purchase.

Also, automated teller machines, widely available in Zimbabwe's urban areas, are allowed to dispense only Zimbabwe dollars Z$25bn at one time. "That will buy two litres of fuel today," said Robertson. "It will take anyone 25 days to draw enough cash for 50 litres to fill a tank."

Significantly, the section worst hit by the difficulties in getting access to money is the civil service, including about 100 000 members of the army, the police, the secret police and prison services, all of whom have been critical in maintaining Mugabe's violent rule.

"Increasingly, people don't want the money the government is printing," said Robertson. "It doesn't matter how much they get, they cannot spend it because there is almost nothing to buy. They are getting more and more disenchanted."

The unavailability of food, however, is likely to be "the cutting edge of this crisis," he said. "We have had the worst crops in 60 years. You cannot find bread anywhere."

The government has repeatedly stated it has paid for 500 000 tons of maize to be imported through SA, but there is no sign of any of it having arrived, he said.

"They say these things, but if they were (importing grain), we would have seen it. They cannot pay for it. The railways are not working, so they can't transport it and there aren't the trucks to carry it. The mess deepens every day." - Sapa

Zim economy set for Armegeddon: Africa: Zimbabwe: News24

[Snowden]

Mugabe must be constantly surrounded by guards to have remained alive this long.

Let's hope for that land, that this situation will be changed in the near future.

[Woodmonkey]

Nothing like intimidation and chasing off the opposition. This man won't be gone unless the people rise up and revolt in mass.

[Woodmonkey]

Zimbabwe opposition leader seeks refuge with Dutch

By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer 46 minutes ago

Zimbabwe's opposition leader has fled to the Dutch Embassy saying he feared for his safety, while police on Monday raided his party's headquarters and took about 60 people away.

Morgan Tsvangirai went to the embassy Sunday shortly after announcing he was withdrawing from Friday's presidential runoff against longtime leader Robert Mugabe, citing violence against opposition supporters, a Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

"He asked to come and stay because he was concerned about his safety," ministry spokesman Rob Dekker said. There has been no request for political asylum, Dekker said.

Opposition spokesman Nqobizitha Mlilo refused to comment on the report and referred callers to The Hague.

Mugabe's government says Friday's runoff will go ahead and Tsvangirai's name remains on the ballot.

Tsvangirai won the first round of the presidential election on March 29, but did not gain an outright majority against 84-year-old Mugabe. That campaign was generally peaceful, but the runoff has been overshadowed by violence and intimidation, especially in rural areas. Independent human rights groups say 85 people have died and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes, most of them opposition supporters.

Tsvangirai had returned to Zimbabwe a month ago to campaign despite information his party had said it received that he was the target of a state-sponsored assassination plot.

Since then, his top deputy has been arrested on treason charges — which carry the death penalty — and Tsvangirai has been repeatedly detained by police.

He has survived at least three assassination attempts and last year he was hospitalized after a brutal assault by police at a prayer rally. Images seen around the world of his bruised and swollen face have come to symbolize the plight of dissenters in Zimbabwe.

He had applied for a new passport earlier this month and Zimbabwean officials refused, saying he lacked proper police clearance. His current passport has not expired but its pages are full.

On Sunday, Tsvangirai pulled out of the violence-wracked presidential runoff, declaring that the election was no longer credible and the loss of life among his supporters was simply too high.

The prospect of a sham election drew strong criticism from the international community.

"The Mugabe regime cannot be considered legitimate in the absence of a runoff," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement. "In forsaking the most basic tenet of governance, the protection of its people, the government of Zimbabwe must be held accountable by the international community."

Western powers outraged at the turmoil in Zimbabwe began pushing Monday for the U.N. Security Council to condemn the violence and insist on a fair presidential election.

Britain and France were joining the U.S. in seeking a council statement of condemnation on the Zimbabwe violence. They expect opposition from Zimbabwe's two biggest trading partners, South Africa and China. On Monday, Dumisani Kumalo, South Africa's ambassador to the U.N., said his nation was taking a wait-and-see approach to the council's deliberations.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also planned to hold an urgent briefing for reporters on the situation in Zimbabwe on Monday afternoon.

But Zimbabwe's longtime, increasingly autocratic ruler has shown little concern for the world's opinion — his police entered opposition headquarters Monday even as foreign election observers watched.

Movement for Democratic Change spokesman Nelson Chamisa said most of the people taken away from party headquarters were women and children seeking refuge after fleeing state-sponsored political violence. He said police also seized computers and furniture.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said police took 39 people from the opposition headquarters as part of an investigation into political violence. He said they had been taken to what he called a "rehabilitation center" for interviews.

After a similar raid in April, police detained scores of people they accused of being responsible for postelection violence. A court later released them.

Roy Bennett, treasurer of Tsvangirai's party, told The Associated Press in Johannesburg, South Africa that the party was not turning its back on elections.

He called on the Southern African Development Community and the African Union to launch negotiations aimed at bringing members of the opposition and moderate members of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party together in a transitional authority that would create conditions for free and fair presidential voting.

"We honestly believe that we will move forward to a new round" of elections, Bennett said.

He said Mugabe would not be welcome on the transitional authority or in a future government.

The issue of Mugabe's role is believed to have derailed previous attempts to resolve Mugabe's crisis by creating a coalition government. But Bennett said ZANU-PF would have to yield now in the face of growing international pressure. ZANU-PF, he said, risked being "totally isolated and totally rejected by the African countries as well as the world at large."

South African President Thabo Mbeki has been mediating between Mugabe and Tsvangirai for more than a year under Southern African Development Community auspices. Bennett, though, appeared to be calling for a new initiative. The Movement for Democratic Change has said Mbeki should step down, accusing him of bias in Mugabe's favor.

Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Rat****anga said a South African negotiating team was in Zimbabwe Monday. But Bennett said negotiations could not open until state-sponsored violence ended and Tendai Biti, the party's secretary-general, who has been jailed on treason charges since June 12, was released.

Mbeki has steadfastly refused to criticize Mugabe, saying confronting him could close the door to talks. But other African leaders have shown increasing unease, and South Africa was under pressure to speak out.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who currently holds the rotating chair of the Southern African Development Community, said Sunday a "catastrophe" was looming in Zimbabwe. He expressed frustration with Mbeki, saying he had been unable to reach him in recent days and complaining he was not sharing information about his mediation efforts.

In a statement Monday, African Union chief executive Jean Ping expressed "grave concern" at the violence and Tsvangirai's withdrawal.

Mark Malloch-Brown, Britain's minister for Africa and Asia, declared Monday that Mugabe is no longer the legitimate leader of Zimbabwe.

Malloch-Brown said Britain wanted to see a "deepening" of international sanctions against Zimbabwe, including tighter restrictions on international companies doing business with the Mugabe government and a ban on leading regime figures sending their children to be educated abroad.

The source