Columnist / Eddie cross
Zimbabwe needs a weak currency to stimulate production, exports
Shortly after the government was sworn in August 2018, they agreed to an economic and monetary reform programme. Since then, much of this ambitious plan has been implemented and the consequences have ...Published: 17 Apr 2019 at 07:15hrs | 1136 | by Eddie Cross
Light is shining at the end of the Zimbabwe tunnel
Today Zimbabwe reminded me why I think this is such an amazing place to live. I woke just after 5am, outside it was crisp, dew on the grass and the birds just waking up with me – a pair of Robins se...Published: 03 Apr 2019 at 08:29hrs | 7051 | by Eddie Cross
People of Zimbabwe deserve a new day
ON Wednesday this week, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya presented a long-awaited monetary policy statement.This had been expected in January and was postponed several tim...Published: 22 Feb 2019 at 09:10hrs | 1308 | by Eddie Cross
How not to win hearts and minds
In a country that is used to turmoil, the month of January will go down as a period when we literally shot ourselves in the foot.The 2017 November coup brought to a close 38 years of dic...Published: 06 Feb 2019 at 08:33hrs | 1695 | by Eddie Cross
The crisis in world leadership
We all have very short memories. Looking back over the 20th Century, we can see how a global conflict like the First World War can break out over what seems like a tiny, inconsequential incident in Au...Published: 08 Jan 2019 at 09:26hrs | 1119 | by Eddie Cross
Many of our leaders are just like that baboon
We seem to have been putting up with a lousy government, forever besetted corruption, nonsensical monetary and macroeconomic policies forever. First, we had the Rhodesian government from 1960 onwards,...Published: 01 Jan 2019 at 11:21hrs | 580 | by Eddie Cross
The Outlook for 2019 is Dismal - unless?
I was called by a major local newspaper this past week and asked what my view of 2019 was? I laughed at the question because right now I do not think anyone could tell you what is going on, let alone ...Published: 22 Dec 2018 at 17:05hrs | 2168 | by Eddie Cross
Exchange control is the central problem facing Zimbabwe at present
BY introducing exchange control via the Reserve Bank, the State has done the following: Created a system to ‘sweep’ some US$3 billion in direct foreign earnings int...Published: 19 Dec 2018 at 06:41hrs | 1015 | by Eddie Cross
Which fundamentals require attention?
There is a real sense of despair in the country. Perhaps it is a left over from the heady days when we celebrated the final departure of former President Robert Mugabe from office and welcomed a 'new'...Published: 10 Dec 2018 at 06:09hrs | 947 | by Eddie Cross
Eddie Cross mourns George Bush
George Bush senior died this morning. I met him once, when as Vice President he visited Harare and I was invited to a reception for him. My other indelible memory of the man was watching the GOP Conve...Published: 03 Dec 2018 at 11:31hrs | 2311 | by Eddie Cross
Biti is a clever lawyer - but no match for Mthuli in the economic sphere
AFTER weeks of conjecture we had the first budget of the new government on Thursday. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube was not thrown by the chaos that resulted when the MDC members refused to respect the...Published: 26 Nov 2018 at 06:20hrs | 6445 | by Eddie Cross
Opinion: Perspective . . .
SEEING things in perspective has never been more important in Zimbabwe. If we fail to do so, our view of the current problems we are encountering will be distorted and we may all make decisions we lat...Published: 17 Nov 2018 at 06:49hrs | 123 | by Eddie Cross
Money is the root of all evil
We all use money every day and yet few of us really understand what these bits of paper or cotton or simply figures in a ledger really mean. But we know the stuff is important.In economic term...Published: 12 Nov 2018 at 05:38hrs | 1008 | by Eddie Cross
We told you so!
SOMETIMES it's nice to be right, that does not often happen, but in this case I am sorry that those of us who had said we are headed for trouble, were right.I am referring to the first stateme...Published: 18 Oct 2018 at 06:59hrs | 1380 | by Eddie Cross
Overhaul social security
I GOT a phone call from a man in Bulawayo who said he wanted to see me on a personal matter. We arranged to meet and he told me that he had worked for a major and well-known company for 40 years. The ...Published: 02 Oct 2018 at 09:47hrs | 270 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe's state of emergency
I CAN recall times when a state of emergency was declared and almost always it was in response to violence or political events.But when conditions reach the point where the very livelihoods of...Published: 26 Sep 2018 at 16:35hrs | 1812 | by Eddie Cross
Mnangagwa beat Nelson Chamisa by over 300 000 votes, says Eddie Cross
All of us have a stake in what is going on right now in Zimbabwe.When I say all of us - I mean everyone, every Zimbabwean from the peasants in the Tribal Areas, the Zimbabweans in the Diaspora...Published: 12 Sep 2018 at 15:11hrs | 6230 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe's uncertainties clouding everyone's vision
SOMETIMES in this game, the safest route into the immediate future is to keep your head down and wait for the dust to clear before looking over the wall to see what has happened. It is impossible to p...Published: 22 Aug 2018 at 06:14hrs | 394 | by Eddie Cross
Even Mugabe voted for Nelson Chamisa and the MDC Alliance
Well the elections have come and gone, Mugabe voted for Nelson Chamisa and the MDC Alliance and the rest of us queued on average for about 3 hours to cast our votes. I voted in a tent and could hardly...Published: 04 Aug 2018 at 09:42hrs | 1485 | by Eddie Cross
Turning dream of a $10bn budget into reality
IT is now 24 days to D-Day - the day of democracy, when we all go to a polling station and at the cost of about $50 each (the cost of an election in Zimbabwe) we are asked to appoint our next batch of...Published: 06 Jul 2018 at 07:07hrs | 399 | by Eddie Cross
A new day dawns
ZIMBABWE is caught up in election fever, especially the national leadership.However, it's not the outcome of these elections that concerns me - it's what will happen after the elections. The p...Published: 28 Jun 2018 at 07:10hrs | 306 | by Eddie Cross
2018 elections promise to be 'smart'
The Military Assisted Transition (MAT) took place in November last year. It is now six months into 2018 and seven months since the MAT. How are we doing? Our world has certainly changed and it is very...Published: 19 Jun 2018 at 07:20hrs | 1670 | by Eddie Cross
Reminder to Grace Mugabe on Mazowe farm invasion
This article was first published on Eddie Cross official website I HAVE just heard the news on BBC that you are a victim of a farm invasion. I am devas...Published: 02 Apr 2018 at 07:13hrs | 1533 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe six months on: Life in the fast lane
In October 2017, just six months ago, Robert Mugabe was state president and it looked as if we were stuck with him for another five-year term after elections in 2018.There seemed to be no poss...Published: 29 Mar 2018 at 13:50hrs | 514 | by Eddie Cross
Freedom is important
I will always recall a statement in a national executive meeting of the MDC in its early days when one of our elder statesmen, who was a senior Zanla war veteran, stood up and simply stated "freedom i...Published: 09 Feb 2018 at 07:23hrs | 1254 | by Eddie Cross
All change and no change
It now looks as if South African President Jacob Zuma's days in power are nearing closure. He simply can no longer carry on as if it was business as usual.The weight of the 800 odd charges of ...Published: 24 Jan 2018 at 13:36hrs | 477 | by Eddie Cross
The dilemma facing Zimbabwe
A new year has dawned and I think all Zimbabweans suffered over this past festive season from a hangover caused by the unscheduled departure of Robert Mugabe from the presidency.Former preside...Published: 12 Jan 2018 at 06:15hrs | 479 | by Eddie Cross, economic analyst
Many Zimbabweans thought any president would be better than Mugabe
Many Zimbabweans thought any president would be better than Robert Mugabe. What's more, they high hopes that the Crocodile - Emmerson Mnangagwa - had undergone a Dama...Published: 05 Dec 2017 at 14:25hrs | 2389 | by Eddie Cross
What has really gone wrong?
When the Government of National Unity (GNU) was formed in February 2009, the Zimbabwe economy was not just in crisis, it was in meltdown.Real revenues in US dollar terms were a paltry 22 milli...Published: 25 Nov 2017 at 14:53hrs | 1179 | by Eddie Cross,economist
Ndebeles are divisive
Over a 1000 years ago three of my distant relatives who were tribal leaders on the Scottish Border with England, were taken prisoner by English troops and hanged for treason. Their crime? Supporting R...Published: 02 Oct 2017 at 06:33hrs | 3000 | by Eddie Cross
Reflections on tribalism in Zimbabwe
OVER a 1000 years ago three of my distant relatives who were tribal leaders on the Scottish Border with England, were taken prisoner by English troops and hanged for treason. Their crime? Supporting R...Published: 01 Oct 2017 at 12:04hrs | 785 | by Eddie Cross is MDC MP for Bulawayo South
The land question in Africa
BEFORE Africa was carved up and occupied by the European colonial powers, land in Africa was largely under populated and human population growth was slow and could quite easily be accommodated....Published: 23 Mar 2017 at 06:23hrs | 767 | by Eddie Cross
Zanu-PF leading Zimbabwe back to 2008
SINCE the end of 2015, the country has seen its cash crisis escalate to the point today when Banks cannot pay out clients more than a small proportion of what is in their accounts.In a "no...Published: 15 Mar 2017 at 07:29hrs | 522 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe water crisis - The background
In the pre Independence era the Town planning authorities and Central Government planned that each City/Town should have roughly 3 years supply in storage at any one point in time. At that time with p...Published: 16 Jan 2017 at 14:41hrs | 541 | by Eddie Cross
The Zimbabwe Cash Crisis
At the beginning of this year the Reserve Bank suddenly imposed cash withdrawal limits on local bank accounts. The limit was US$10 000 a day. That may not be enough for Grace Mugabe, but for most of u...Published: 04 Nov 2016 at 14:44hrs | 981 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe: How to rob a country
TRANSPARENCY International issued a briefing this week claiming that corruption is costing Zimbabwe US$1 billion a year. I have no doubt that they are right.The question that needs answering i...Published: 20 Oct 2016 at 09:22hrs | 1778 | by Eddie Cross
EXPOSED: Mnangagwa to assume control of all levers of the State
Eddie Cross finally gives a credible account of the rumours plaguing the country regarding the health and status of the President and what the immediate implications of these are. This does offer ...Published: 02 Sep 2016 at 21:54hrs | 7380 | by Eddie Cross
Mphoko must be brought to order - MDC-T
On July 13, 2016 at just after 18.00 hrs the Acting President of Zimbabwe, Phelekezela Mphoko, arrived unannounced at Avondale Police Station in Harare and demanded that "his boys" be released from th...Published: 28 Jul 2016 at 08:59hrs | 2400 | by Eddie Cross and Obert Gutu
Statement by the MDC-T Shadow Minister for Local Government
In the past decade the Ministry of Local Government has settled some 300 000 families in urban areas of land in and around the urban councils. Most of this land was in the form of farms acquired by th...Published: 08 Jul 2016 at 12:31hrs | 3703 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe headed for another tipping point
The past sixteen years in Zimbabwe can now be divided into two distinct phases - both 8 years in duration; 2000 to 2008, which we could call the hyper inflationary period and 2009 to 2016 which I woul...Published: 22 Jun 2016 at 08:23hrs | 5814 | by Eddie Cross
Statement by the MDC-T Secretary for local government
Since MDC won control of the urban Councils the Minister of Local Government has abused his powers under the Urban Councils Act and the Town and Country Planning Act to subvert and control the MDC...Published: 16 Jun 2016 at 15:12hrs | 1974 | by Eddie Cross
The only difference between Zimbabwe and Botswana is leadership
I HAVE just completed reading two books on the Second World War. The first was by an American soldier who spent 4 years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp and the second was an overview of the War fro...Published: 02 Sep 2015 at 16:26hrs | 3195 | by Eddie Cross
Warning to Ian Khama: Zimbabwe crisis will pull down region
I know everyone is fed up with the continuous state of crisis in Zimbabwe but that is no reason for not paying attention to its implications. In 1976 it was an intervention by the American Secretary o...Published: 23 Aug 2015 at 11:30hrs | 3685 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe change is imminent, but how?
Zimbabwe is an enigma to many. The country presents itself as a clean, modern State with friendly people, little crime and small pockets of prosperity and wealth. A small country blessed with a great ...Published: 25 Jul 2015 at 16:13hrs | 6838 | by Eddie Cross
Collateral damage of Mugabe's poor governance
WHEN a government fails to conduct its duties as the principal centre of authority in a State, the consequences are often borne, not by the residents alone, but by other States and regions.The...Published: 11 Jun 2015 at 09:07hrs | 4777 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe: Living in a Lunatic Asylum
Eddie Cross contrasts the achievements of Lee Kuan Yew with the ruin Robert Mugabe brought to his countryThe man who created Singapore died a few days ...Published: 07 Apr 2015 at 14:12hrs | 2694 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe crisis as an opportunity
Political societies do not seem to be capable of making the decisions that are necessary to put their governments or countries onto a self sustaining path to prosperity and stability.Eddie Cro...Published: 29 Mar 2015 at 08:21hrs | 3751 | by Eddie Cross
Mnangagwa skating on thin ice
The political transition initiated last year by the attacks on the Mujuru faction in Zanu-PF leading to her dismissal from the post of Vice President and the appointment of Emmerson Mnangagwa as senio...Published: 22 Feb 2015 at 09:50hrs | 4469 | by Eddie Cross
Zimbabwe's ghosts from the past
Every country in the world has its ghosts from the past. I am part Irish (150 years ago), but am affected in my personal and family life by the historical conflicts that affected the Irish people, di...Published: 03 Feb 2015 at 12:07hrs | 5467 | by Eddie Cross
Chombo's demands on vendors ridiculous
The MDC is deeply concerned with the demand made by the Ignatius Chombo that councils should curb the activities of informal traders at a time the Zanu-PF regime has failed to provide jobs for the pe...Published: 02 Feb 2015 at 16:33hrs | 3819 | by Eddie Cross
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