Desperate people will resort to desperate measures

and other domestic animals in order to raise the fees for this term.
Others had none of these domestic animals to sell, and have been forced to withdraw their children from schools and colleges. Sadly, education is slowly becoming the preserve of the elite in Zimbabwe. Some schoolteachers and college staff have had to keep their children at home until they get paid at the end of January. The desperation that these parents must feel goes all the way to their children, and that is a national tragedy.
Meanwhile, the ineffectual government officials continue to clutch at straws since they have no realistic solutions to the incessant escalation of the cost of living. Their usual battle cry that no student should be sent home for failing to pay school fees is not being chanted this year. Even the imbecile Eneas Chigwedere is suddenly uncharacteristically speechless this time around.
Civil servants are likely to receive a 300% salary hike this month, but that will not in any meaningful way match the basic survival basket currently at $350 000 for a family of six. The Central Statistical Office has just published a new record high inflation rate for December 2006 at 1281.1%. It is obvious that the rate for January will be higher than this given the normal practice by retailers to raise all prices at the beginning of each month and year. The 300% award to the civil servants will therefore be eroded by inflation long before it is even paid out to them.
Other workers are experiencing the same economic hardships, and might not even be awarded what civil servants are getting. The price of fuel has increased phenomenally since the last quarter of 2006. Government subsidised fuel is rarely available to commuter omnibus operators these days. A huge chunk of whatever a worker earns has to be used for transport costs. The alternative is to lose one’s job, which is unwise in these desperate times. Some workers have rightly observed that by continuing to go to work they are now subsidising the companies that they work for. The Zimbabwe economy is certainly upside-down.
Junior doctors and some nurses are currently on strike, and hospitals and clinics are operating at lower than 10% of normal capacity. Dr Death (aka Pari) does not have the slightest clue what to do to get the doctors back to work. People are literally dying for lack of medical attention throughout the country. This explains why the demonic Mugabe regime needs to strenuously control the flow of information; the people of Zimbabwe must not be allowed to know what is happening in their own country.
It befuddles the mind why the people of Zimbabwe continue to suffer all this pain when they could liberate themselves in a very short time. The cause of the pain and suffering is well known to be Mugabe’s extended tenure at State House when his use-by date has long since expired. That Mugabe has become a gross national liability has been stated time and again by so many people that the man must be hard of hearing to miss it all.
Both civil society and opposition political parties can also effectively harness this escalation of desperation to mobilise the people of Zimbabwe against the dictatorial Mugabe regime. Regrettably, there is currently little evidence that either civil society or opposition political parties are planning any serious civic disobedience activities. The year 2007 is certainly going to be the year of dramatic change – whether Mugabe likes it or not. Desperate people will resort to desperate measures.