As 2008 beckons, President Robert Mugabe has already signalled that his focus will remain on his knack for the extraordinary to entrench his position instead of policies that will reverse his country’s relentless decline into squalor.
In an unprecedented move last week, Mugabe told his deputies at his ruling Zanu (PF) party’s extra-ordinary congress that he was forging ahead with his disastrous price controls into 2008.
The move will no doubt suffocate many manufacturers that don’t get state subsidies and have been grappling with production costs that increase almost on a daily basis.
A change of leadership could have signalled a new direction. But Zanu (PF) endorsed the Marxist ruler as its candidate in the 2008 vote, a situation the analysts predict could plunge Zimbabwe into further chaos.
Mugabe has indicated he will continue to gazette controlled prices of all basics from school uniforms to building materials. The move means Zimbabweans will have to do without almost every commodity required for daily livelihood in the new year as manufacturers stop producing them at a loss.
With no respite expected next year, Zimbabweans are expected to focus more and more on how they can extricate themselves from Mugabe and his discredited isolationist policies.
“None but ourselves are to blame for what has gone badly wrong in Zimbabwe,” wrote Bornwell Chakaodza, a respected academic and veteran journalist in a recent newspaper column. “A people get the leadership they deserve. How could any sane people put up with this terrible situation? The capacity of Zimbabweans to tolerate this tragedy is amazing. Is it just plain lunacy or stupidity on our part?” – Chief reporter
Post published in: News