Who is benefiting from Zimbabwe's crazy fuel price hikes?

THE government is at it again, making the lives of Zimbabweans unbearable and the country nearly unlivable due to high fuel prices. And the worst is yet to come, after the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) warned of weekly price hikes.

Yesterday, Zera raised the price of fuel by 10% to US$1,67 and US$1,68 for petrol and diesel, respectively, barely five days after raising the price of diesel and petrol per litre to US$1,51, which in itself, was an increase from US$1,44 on February 4, last month.

Comparatively, Zambia, a country whose energy ecosystem is similar to that of Zimbabwe, the price of diesel is US$1,193 and US$1,217 for petrol. Zera argues that the increase was due to spiking global oil prices as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, looking at Zera's latest increase a disturbing pattern emerges, that the government "of the people" is the one fuelling the high cost of living.

The latest fuel increase, the government appears to forget that this will fuel (no pun intended) price increases for basic commodities and add to already soaring inflation against falling wages and a depreciating Zimbabwe dollar.

This is a problem given that the average monthly wage is below $50 000, a point made by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya in his recent monetary policy statement, while the family basket was $75 000 as at the end of January, according to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe.

So, with the new fuel prices, those who drive will basically be working just to buy fuel. To add to the pain, fuel is mostly available in United States dollars while the majority of workers are paid in Zimdollars.

Sadly, Zimbabweans know that their right to protest has been severely curtailed. They remember what happened in January 2019 when fuel prices rose by 150%.

The government responded by unleashing the army which shot and killed 17 people, left thousands injured while some people were raped, maimed, tortured and kidnapped.

However, reports show that members of the security sectors are also getting frustrated by the government's seemingly ignorance to consumers' economic woes and a number of them have been arrested for armed robbery.

So maybe, just maybe, the government still has a chance to reverse this and be more sympathetic to the people because after all power comes from the people and next year there are elections.