Opinion / Columnist
Zimbabwe's very own Emperor Nero is burning down povo's hovels to build palatial villas for filthy rich few
18 May 2024 at 15:47hrs | Views
"The closer the collapse of the empire, the crazier its laws" Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Well we in Zimbabwe are witness this first hand. Zanu PF introduced the new local currency insisting it would never lose its value pegged at ZiG 13.73 = US$ 1.00. because it would backed by Zimbabwe Gold in the RBZ vault hence the name ZiG. There was a token amount of gold in the vault on the day of the launch as all could see in the photograph of Mnangagwa inspecting the vault. And so it is not surprising that the regime has adopted other unscrupulous means to stop the run away devaluation of the ZiG.
The regime created a shortage of the ZiG so people have to queue for hours only to get a few ZiGs. The Police backed by the Zanu PF party's green-bombers militia are terrorising the public to stop currency trading. Of course, it is foolish law; the US$, ZiG and all the other foreign currencies are legal tender in Zimbabwe so why should trading in these currencies be illegal!
When Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe in 2017, following the military coup, he was cocksure his "Zimbabwe is open for business!" would lift Zimbabwe out of poverty just as Mugabe before him was cocksure to do the same with his "gutsa rizhinji". When the hoped for foreign investors failed to turn up, Mnangagwa turned inward convince he pay for Zimbabwe's development from her own resources. "Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo!" was born. Sadly he did not know how.
In 2019 the then Governor of RBZ, Dr John Mangudya, admitted that Zimbabwe could pay off it foreign debt and from hence forth pay for all her development IF the country stopped the criminal waste of her resources through loot. He admitted the country was losing a fortune every year through smuggling of gold and diamonds.
When Mnangagwa took office in 2017 he had promised "zero tolerance on corruption". Under his watch corruption has gone into overdrive. The Al Jazeera Gold Mafia documentary has revealed the extend of the rot, up to 80% of the US$2 billion per year gold production in Zimbabwe is smuggled out of the country. The documentary name Mnangagwa as "Number One", the godfather.
Whilst the country's basic infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, roads, are in varying stages of rot and decay because of decades of neglect and under funding. Meanwhile Mnangagwa is going full steam ahead in prestigious project such as the new parliament, a four lane up four lane down highway from Harare City Centre to the new parliament, building villas, suburbs, shopping malls, etc. for the rich.
In Mnangagwa Zimbabwe has its own Emperor Nero, burning down everything used by the filthy poor mass up and down the country and replacing it with palatial facilities for the rich and powerful. All paid for with looted wealth and national resources sold to the Chinese and others for a song.
The Zanu PF dictatorship should have died after the 2008 to 2013 GNU, at the latest; it has survive to this day because MDC/CCC leaders sold out. Zanu PF has not only capture key state institutions like the judiciary, Police, Army, etc. but the opposition too are in the regime's deep pockets, hence the political paralysis.
For any good it has ever done, the Zanu PF dictatorship has been on its death bed for decades but, thanks to the political paralysis, the regime has lingered on, like a smouldering candle. 44 years and counting we have been stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. And if we do not do some thing to end the dictatorship there will be very little left of Zimbabwe as we know it!
Well we in Zimbabwe are witness this first hand. Zanu PF introduced the new local currency insisting it would never lose its value pegged at ZiG 13.73 = US$ 1.00. because it would backed by Zimbabwe Gold in the RBZ vault hence the name ZiG. There was a token amount of gold in the vault on the day of the launch as all could see in the photograph of Mnangagwa inspecting the vault. And so it is not surprising that the regime has adopted other unscrupulous means to stop the run away devaluation of the ZiG.
The regime created a shortage of the ZiG so people have to queue for hours only to get a few ZiGs. The Police backed by the Zanu PF party's green-bombers militia are terrorising the public to stop currency trading. Of course, it is foolish law; the US$, ZiG and all the other foreign currencies are legal tender in Zimbabwe so why should trading in these currencies be illegal!
When Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe in 2017, following the military coup, he was cocksure his "Zimbabwe is open for business!" would lift Zimbabwe out of poverty just as Mugabe before him was cocksure to do the same with his "gutsa rizhinji". When the hoped for foreign investors failed to turn up, Mnangagwa turned inward convince he pay for Zimbabwe's development from her own resources. "Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo!" was born. Sadly he did not know how.
In 2019 the then Governor of RBZ, Dr John Mangudya, admitted that Zimbabwe could pay off it foreign debt and from hence forth pay for all her development IF the country stopped the criminal waste of her resources through loot. He admitted the country was losing a fortune every year through smuggling of gold and diamonds.
When Mnangagwa took office in 2017 he had promised "zero tolerance on corruption". Under his watch corruption has gone into overdrive. The Al Jazeera Gold Mafia documentary has revealed the extend of the rot, up to 80% of the US$2 billion per year gold production in Zimbabwe is smuggled out of the country. The documentary name Mnangagwa as "Number One", the godfather.
Whilst the country's basic infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, roads, are in varying stages of rot and decay because of decades of neglect and under funding. Meanwhile Mnangagwa is going full steam ahead in prestigious project such as the new parliament, a four lane up four lane down highway from Harare City Centre to the new parliament, building villas, suburbs, shopping malls, etc. for the rich.
In Mnangagwa Zimbabwe has its own Emperor Nero, burning down everything used by the filthy poor mass up and down the country and replacing it with palatial facilities for the rich and powerful. All paid for with looted wealth and national resources sold to the Chinese and others for a song.
The Zanu PF dictatorship should have died after the 2008 to 2013 GNU, at the latest; it has survive to this day because MDC/CCC leaders sold out. Zanu PF has not only capture key state institutions like the judiciary, Police, Army, etc. but the opposition too are in the regime's deep pockets, hence the political paralysis.
For any good it has ever done, the Zanu PF dictatorship has been on its death bed for decades but, thanks to the political paralysis, the regime has lingered on, like a smouldering candle. 44 years and counting we have been stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. And if we do not do some thing to end the dictatorship there will be very little left of Zimbabwe as we know it!
Source - zimbabwelight.blogspot.com
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