Disgraceful Zimbabwe

After his tireless work this year, travelling long distances to promote Brand Zimbabwe around the world, President Mugabe could not hide his disappointment at Zanu-PF's Conference in Masvingo.

All too little had been achieved at home while he had been away, he noted sadly. There had been too many juvenile squabbles in Zanu-PF and silly protests from dissidents despite the hundreds of top of the range cars provided. And more cars were still to come.

Of course, he said, he would like to retire and milk his cows. But the sad truth was that everyone else in Zimbabwe was either deluded or naughty. 'So we just have to soldier on to ensure continued prosperity and economic growth in line with ZimAsset.'

The alternative was too awful to imagine: neo-liberalism and its British and American apostles would pounce with their illegal regime change agenda. The result would be mass unemployment. Indeed, half of government workers would be made redundant. Farmers might even have to produce drought-resistant crops, genetically modified to exterminate indigenous people, as they had already done in the US and the UK.

Zanu-PF agreed with the President and confirmed support for his sacrificial offer to stand for re-election in 2018. The party is fortunate because he will still be just under 100 when that presidential term ends so he will be able to stand again.

The Vigil wishes our families in Zimbabwe a patient Christmas. Those who are civil servants can look forward to getting their December salaries next month and join the queues at banks for bondage notes. The MDC T MP Eddie Cross says the Reserve Bank is reported to have billions of dollars of this monopoly money. The US dollar is trading at about an average premium now of 20 per cent, he says.