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| East/Subsaharan Africa | |||
| Harare becomes the capital of chaos and misrule | |||
| 2003-05-08 | |||
| A regional capital, anyway -- Tripoli, the cities outside of any French urban area, Lagos and Berkeley are still the world-champs at chaos and misrule. In Harare these days you never know where you are going to end up when you take a taxi. A dozen passengers crammed into a taxi van recently complained angrily among themselves about Zim-Bob-We's high inflation, critical fuel shortages and the police who shoved them when they were stopped at roadblocks. When one man tried to defend the police, a woman retorted: "The police are just Mugabe's dogs." The rest of the passengers cheered. When the taxi stopped, the man jumped out and ran to some nearby police officers. He identified himself as an off-duty policeman and ordered them to arrest the passengers. They were jailed overnight and charged for insulting police, a crime under the Public Order and Security Act. Memo to self: don't diss the police when in a taxi in Harare. For many months horror stories have been emerging from Zimbabwe about the suffering inflicted by President Robert Mugabe. Newspapers have been filled with accounts of political corruption, rapes and beatings. But behind these stories lie the daily hardships felt by the capital's 1.7 million people. What was once a thriving city has descended into a place of empty supermarkets, petrol queues and blackouts. In the past week the longstanding fuel shortages have taken a turn for the worse. Hundreds of vehicles spend entire days and nights in fuel queues in Harare. "We used to laugh at Zambians because of all the shortages they had. Now they are laughing at us because it is much worse here," said a salesman. "We never thought it would get this bad." You let Mugabe rule you. What did you expect? A few months ago Mr Mugabe's motorcade of more than 20 vehicles, including two trucks full of armed soldiers, passed a fuel queue on Samora Machel Avenue in downtown Harare. The president was met by jeers and hoots of derision. Some people threw empty cans. The soldiers later returned and beat up many of those in the queue. A law has also been passed declaring it illegal to make derogatory comments or gestures to the presidential motorcade. Law freshly imported from Saddam's Iraq, and enforced much the same way. Harare's new mayor, Elias Mudzuri, tried to improve city services; garbage collections were organised and crews sent out to fill potholes. But Mr Mudzuri, elected by nearly 80% of Harare's voters, belongs to the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Last week the Mugabe government sacked him, accusing him of incompetence and corruption. Mr Mudzuri has been barred from his office and has gone into hiding after receiving threats. Let's hope he stays alive til after Bob is At first glance, the supermarket in central Harare appears well-stocked and busy. But on closer inspection, rows and rows of toilet paper are displayed. "That is where there should be salt and that is where there should be sugar, but those items are out of stock so they put up toilet paper," said Idah Mandaza. "And mealie meal [maize meal, Zimbabwe's staple food] and cooking oil and soap, they have all been replaced with toilet paper. But we can't eat loo paper. Either basic things are not available or I can't afford them. I never thought it would come to this."
Thank goodness Tim Robbins and the Ditzy Chicks are all over this. The United Nations estimates that nearly 1 million urban Zimbabweans do not have enough food. In total, more than 7 million of the country's 12 million people are threatened with starvation, according to the government. Just a few years ago Zimbabwe was extolled as the breadbasket of Africa for all the surplus food it exported. Someone else was running the farms then. Can't remember who -- somebody help me out here. An unruly commotion erupts in the supermarket as people rush to the bakery section where bread is put on the shelves. After a few minutes of shoving and grabbing, the bread is gone. There used to be a similar rush when milk and other fresh dairy products were delivered. But for two weeks there have not been any milk deliveries. A dairy farm that supplied 40% of Harare's milk has been overrun by Mr Mugabe's
Bob's a softie at heart — Saddam would never have released them alive. Last month more than 250 opposition supporters were forced to go into hospital after men dressed in army uniforms raided their homes and beat them. But not everyone is gloomy and depressed. "The worse things get, the sooner we will have a change," said one motorist queueing for fuel. He pointed to the visit to Harare on Monday of South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian equivalent Olusegun Obasanjo. "Do you think they came to congratulate Mugabe on doing such a good job? No, they came to tell Mugabe he must go. The pressure is mounting and change is in the air. I can feel it." Make it soon. | |||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Funny, when it was Rhodesia, it was the flower of Africa. See what a little hard work can do. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-05-08 14:21:41 |
| #3 Don't worry, folks. Kofi and the UN are on the case. The file is on the in-basket here....uh...no... Maybe over here... No.. Oh, here it is...uh... no that is Ivory Coast...should be over in Jaques pile. Damn! It's missing. Call Mbeki or Obasanjo and see if it went there. We will get back to you, we promise. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-05-08 11:06:08 |
| #2 No one said that strongmanocracy would be easy or pretty. It just takes time. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-05-08 10:30:03 |
| #1 Sad isn't it? The people actually believe that words out of the mouths of Mbeki and Obasanjo is going to get Bob to leave. Bob will leave when he feels THREATENED, not when he's getting gentle requests to move on. He'll only be gone when he's dead or when there is a popular uprising, or heaven forfend, someone sends in troops to kick his ass out and save these people. But don't expect the candy-ass leftist government in South Africa to do it...no way. |
| Posted by: R. McLeod 2003-05-08 04:07:14 |