For many months now, there has been a major stand-off between the ruling party in Zimbabwe headed by President Mugabe, and the opposition led by Morgan Tsvangirai. The dispute started after the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claimed victory in the elections, and the ruling Zanu-PF of President Mugabe refused to admit defeat. And then, in the Presidential run-off elections, Morgan Tsvangirai backed down claiming systematic violence by the ruling party (the fact that the ruling party was using planned violence and attacks was pretty clear by that point).
In the meantime, the country was rapidly going downhill. Inflation was ballooning, with inflation levels in the millions of percentages, and people having a hard time making ends meet. The country was collapsing economically, and Morgan Tsvangirai seemed like a breath of fresh blood who could change things (if he was allowed to take power). Finally, there was a compromise and it was decided that there would be sharing of portfolios; however, it was too soon to declare the problems over. The portfolio sharing has become the sticking point, with control of the Home portfolio (responsible for the police and security services) being a major contention point:

continue reading "Zimbabwe stand-off between Mugabe and opposition getting worse"

Zimbabwe has been under a tremendous political and economic whirlwind for the last several months. The country is a basket case economically, with all development indices down and inflation levels in the million percent level (the highest in the world). On the political front, the disputed last elections (which both the separate fronts claim and which independent observers claim were deeply flawed) led to a massive increase of tension in Zimbabwe. To try to resolve this situation, a deal for power sharing was negotiated by the then South African Prime Minister Thabo Mbeki, in which the 2 fronts of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe agreed to share the ministries and resolve the tension sweeping the country. However, the deal is now getting bogged down in disputes over who gets which ministry:

continue reading "Zimbabwe deal under tremendous strain"

Zimbabwe has been going through massive political turmoil for many months now, with news of electoral rigging and malpractices, use of force, killings, and an eventual decision by the opponent to withdraw from a disputed run-off. However, after many negotiations led by the South African President, it seems that an agreement will be reached in Zimbabwe that will lead to power sharing, with the opposition leader becoming the Prime Minister:

Zimbabwe’s power-sharing agreement marks a new turn in mediation efforts by South African President Thabo Mbeki in the country wracked by the world’s highest inflation rate, the African Union said.
Under the agreement, the Movement for Democratic Change’s Tsvangirai, 56, will become prime minister, heading a council of ministers, said a senior member of the MDC’s governing national executive and two members of the politburo of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front. The three officials declined to be identified because the deal is confidential until it’s announced on Sept. 15.

If this agreement comes to a successful conclusion, there may be a chance the decline of Zimbabwe may get reversed. Zimbabwe has been suffering through incorrect economic policies, and undergoes the highest inflation rate in the world (in the millions). With a new Prime Minister (although the current President Robert Mugabe remains in his post), there is a hope that he can bring about changes in policies that would stem the decline in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is now a basket case economy. The economic mismanagement by the Government of President Robert Mugabe has driven Zimbabwe to such a state that inflation is now the highest in the world, reaching such levels that the impact on the citizens of the country must be incredible. Now, typically, the economic management of a country is something that the rulers of the country have to manage; but when you combine this with a Government that is now effectively illegal (having claimed an election by force) and which uses violence as a way of life in the country, then how is this different from other such regimes such as Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot, and so on:

Zimbabwe’s troubled central bank introduced $100 billion banknotes Saturday in a desperate bid to ease the recurrent cash shortages plaguing the inflation-ravaged economy. As high as they are, though, the bills still aren’t enough to buy a loaf of bread. They can buy only four oranges. The new note is equal to just one U.S. dollar. Once-prosperous Zimbabwe has seen an unprecedented economic meltdown since it gained independence in 1980, with the official inflation rate now at 2.2 million percent.

continue reading "Zimbabwe introduces $100 billion banknotes"