Twelve months ago, Mugabe stretched the truth a little, a lot, okay he lied, when he claimed Zanu (PF) would create 2,2 million jobs between 2013 and 2018. Fourteen years ago, to explain the fuel shortage of 2000, Mugabe’s party said Britain had waylaid petroleum-laden marine vessels that were bound for Zimbabwe – you know, like pirates with hooked arms, peg legs, eye-patches and parrots on the shoulder.
His government has also claimed for 14 years that “sanctions” had ruined the economy, even though one could easily identify corruption and ministerial cluelessness as the reason for economic failure. Mugabe’s deputy, Joice Mujuru, blamed the drought from decades ago for the maize shortage of 2013.
A group of third graders might believe her. For every lie there is always somebody who is naïve enough to believe. However, the one thing that even the most charming speaker will fail to do is dispute the truth that is reflected in numbers.