Mugabe has run out of options, says Vigil

President Mugabe – having failed to sell Zimbabwe in Beijing – is now turning to other salesmen to bail out his bankrupt regime. Street vendors in Chitungwiza are being told they must register to pay tax to the Zimbabwe revenue authority, although most of them only manage to scrape together a few dollars a day to feed their families.

Although Mugabe came home from China with the prospect of various development projects, it is clear there will be no cash injection to pay the government’s running costs. Finance Minister Chinamasa said plaintively: “China doesn’t supply budgetary support” – for all the world as if this is a law of economics instead of a brush-off. The upshot is that the Zimbabwe treasury is now, as they put it, about to run out of the readies.

Zimbabweans know all too well what happens when you run out of money: you have to cut your spending, sell your goods, borrow, beg or steal. Mugabe has exhausted this list.

The Vigil believes, however, that there is still an untapped source of funding available: how about cropping the Zanu (PF) bigwigs and their mysterious wealth?

Zimbabwean food is becoming a popular feature at the Vigil to fundraise for ROHR branches, including a car boot full of Zimbabwean greens grown by a local Zimbabwean family. With all the vendors, it felt as if we were in Chitungwiza.

Supporter Joseph Chivayo took part in a meeting held in the Houses of Parliament to discuss the situation of asylum-seekers in the UK. He said the meeting was a success with more than 30 MPs attending.

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