Dictator in self-destruct mode

al party votes come 2008, then his timing was grossly ill advised.
The electorate has a very short memory, and is likely to remember only very vaguely that once upon a winter they were able to buy certain goods at ridiculously low prices. It is very likely that by the time of the 2008 elections, the electorate will vote according to whether or not they still have jobs, and whether or not they are able to buy the basic necessities of life.
Therefore, without intending to do so, the dictator may have pressed the “self-destruct” button. What is, however, even more intriguing in this latest saga is the fact that the dictator has now targeted the previously sacred cows, quislings and compradors – the business persons – who used to tell us that they are too special to delve in dirty politics. They used to argue that they were only interested in making money and not in policy-making. They even used to donate all kinds of support to the dictator and his ruinous party while treating civil society and opposition political parties as traitors if not enemies of the state.
Thank God, today they are tasting the medicine of their own beneficiary. The dictator is now arresting and locking them up like common criminals. Yes, today they are facing the wrath of a greedy police force that breaks rather than enforces the law. We would very much like to tell them “We told you so”, but of course we still need to sympathise with them since they are now also victims of the breakdown of the rule of law.
We hope that it has become clear to them that the breakdown of the rule of law is pervasive in nature. It is not simply the beating up of innocent people, civic leaders and members of the opposition by a rogue police force. It also includes irrational setting of the prices of goods and serves by the dictator without due consideration of the cost of producing such goods and services.
Further, the dictatorial Mugabe regime has now also insisted that parastatals price their goods and services at June18 levels. For example, it now costs a mere US$15 to fly from Harare to Bulawayo. Indeed, even in well-developed countries, there is no way anyone can fly any distance for that laughable amount. The sad part of all of this is that in the end we shall all pay the full price of the dictator’s folly. It is my fervent hope that the current jambanja against entrepreneurs will transform them into a viable if not formidable force that will join the usual suspects in fighting against the dictator until regime change is attained in Zimbabwe.
It is obvious that the prevailing shortages will worsen with time. Several businesses have already started to lay off labour, and some factories have already closed down. Most people in full employment are now spending a good part of the day running up and down the streets hunting for bargains or queuing up for hard-to-find grocery items. To rub salt into the wound, the dictator has now banned the importation of food into the country. From 1st August Zimbabweans will need to have an import permit in order to import such foodstuffs as sugar, flour, cooking oil, etc. the permits will obviously be issued by the same inept administration, which will charge a fee for that service.