Zimbabe may collapse in 6 months

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Zimbabwe will collapse within six months, possibly leading to a state of emergency, according to a briefing report for aid workers in the country.

Rampant inflation will mean shops and services can no longer function and people would resort to barter, it said.

"The memorandum is talking about a situation where there is no functioning government or a total breakdown," an unnamed aid worker told the UK Times.

Zimbabwe's inflation is already 3,714% - the highest rate in the world.

Business quotes were now valid for just one day or even one hour, said the report written by consultants and sent to workers at the United Nations and other aid agencies.

Some firms were already partly paying their workers in food, rather than money, it said.

Shops were doubling their prices twice a month, so they could purchase replacement goods.

If this continues, "doubling the current inflation for each of the seven remaining months of 2007 gives 512,000% thus the economic collapse is expected before the end of 2007," said the report, according to the AP news agency.

The security forces who have remained loyal to President Robert Mugabe were also feeling the effects.

The report said an ordinary police officer earned less than aid workers paid their domestic staff.

It said power and water suppliers were already near collapse. Electricity was last month rationed to just four hours a day to save power for farmers.

Just one adult in five is believed to have a regular job.

Some 4m Zimbabweans - a third of the population - will need food aid this year, according to the UN World Food Programme.

Mr Mugabe denies responsibility for Zimbabwe's economic problems, blaming a western plot to bring down his government because of his policy of seizing white-owned land.

ZIMBABWE CRISIS

Inflation: 3,714%

Unemployment: 80%

4m need food aid

Life expectancy: 37 (men), 34 (women)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6751671.stm

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

figures.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Only officially--it's been in an actual state of collapse for at least the last decade!

Edited June 14, 2007 by CherryXS

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I like how some of these people that are so hung up on power are completely rubbish at actually running the country.

My guess is Mugabe won't be around long if he can't satisfy his supporters with the luxurious lifestyles they're accustomed to. Meanwhile everyone else is eating shoe-leather

[JoeMama 0]

I like how some of these people that are so hung up on power are completely rubbish at actually running the country.

My guess is Mugabe won't be around long if he can't satisfy his supporters with the luxurious lifestyles they're accustomed to. Meanwhile everyone else is eating shoe-leather

That's if there is a shoe that can be found to be eaten.

[Emancipation 2]

A very good friend of my was born in Zimbabwe.. he loves the country has a heart for it's people.. this is sad really.. Another example of the world standing by and watching as Africa suffers.. We suck pretty much.

[JODO 2]

I like how some of these people that are so hung up on power are completely rubbish at actually running the country.

My guess is Mugabe won't be around long if he can't satisfy his supporters with the luxurious lifestyles they're accustomed to. Meanwhile everyone else is eating shoe-leather

That's if there is a shoe that can be found to be eaten.

Actually I remember a report on CNN not too long ago where it was reported that Zimbabweans were actually reduced to eating rats. Mugabe needs to go.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/12/19...abwe/index.html

Edited June 14, 2007 by JODO

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I like how some of these people that are so hung up on power are completely rubbish at actually running the country.

My guess is Mugabe won't be around long if he can't satisfy his supporters with the luxurious lifestyles they're accustomed to. Meanwhile everyone else is eating shoe-leather

That's if there is a shoe that can be found to be eaten.

Actually I remember a report on CNN not too long ago where it was reported that Zimbabweans were actually reduced to eating rats. Mugabe needs to go.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/12/19...abwe/index.html

It wouldn't be the first time something like that's happened either. People end up starving for no real reason, not because there is a drought or famine - but because the autocratic government runs the economy and infrastructure into the the ground; then either has no money to buy food to feed the people, or simply chooses to spend it on luxuries for themselves.

His land reforms were a crime against humanity IMO. Abolished the large agricultural plantations, forced out the white farmers and gave small tracts of land to individuals who have no knowledge about farming, and couldn't produce sufficient food to sustain themselves, let alone the surplus needed to supply the rest of the country. Basically away he bartered away a key national resource for short term political gain.

[Scott & Lai 12]

A very good friend of my was born in Zimbabwe.. he loves the country has a heart for it's people.. this is sad really.. Another example of the world standing by and watching as Africa suffers.. We suck pretty much.

So, you agree with Mugabe; Zimbabwe's collapse has nothing to do with his disgusting policies, but is in fact the West's fault?

[peejay 327]

Zimbabwe's come a long way since the Rhodesia days. Too bad the way is all downhill with a crash landing at the bottom.

[almaty 19]

Only officially--it's been in an actual state of collapse for at least the last decade!

i agree...Mugabe is a world class chopf##k mfer...hang him by the nabs...hand him high

[Emancipation 2]

A very good friend of my was born in Zimbabwe.. he loves the country has a heart for it's people.. this is sad really.. Another example of the world standing by and watching as Africa suffers.. We suck pretty much.

So, you agree with Mugabe; Zimbabwe's collapse has nothing to do with his disgusting policies, but is in fact the West's fault?

Of course I'm not saying that.. I just think it's interesting how the world watches as someone like Mugabe does this to his country.. we don't intervene - when we have the ability to help and yet we don't. Just looking at the situation from a distance it sometimes appears to me that an African life is worth less than others.... The AIDS epidemic, the Southern Sudan, all these crises and other than NGO's we generally turn a blind eye to their needs and issues. I'm including me in this btw... not just gov. I fall into this trap over and over again.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

A very good friend of my was born in Zimbabwe.. he loves the country has a heart for it's people.. this is sad really.. Another example of the world standing by and watching as Africa suffers.. We suck pretty much.

So, you agree with Mugabe; Zimbabwe's collapse has nothing to do with his disgusting policies, but is in fact the West's fault?

That's not really reasonable is it - the world has and is standing by while Mugabe and his like go about their business in parts of the world which have nothing that the rest of the world wants.

It is a valid point that this sort of thing has happened in Africa before, and for all their postulating on the need to oust certain criminal regimes western governments are selective on which causes they choose to support.

That doesn't make us "responsible" for what people like Mugabe et al do - but surely it makes us a little complicit if we're making ourselves out to be the "world's policemen".

[Scott & Lai 12]

It wouldn't be the first time something like that's happened either. People end up starving for no real reason, not because there is a drought or famine - but because the autocratic government runs the economy and infrastructure into the the ground; then either has no money to buy food to feed the people, or simply chooses to spend it on luxuries for themselves.

His land reforms were a crime against humanity IMO. Abolished the large agricultural plantations, forced out the white farmers and gave small tracts of land to individuals who have no knowledge about farming, and couldn't produce sufficient food to sustain themselves, let alone the surplus needed to supply the rest of the country. Basically away he bartered away a key national resource for short term political gain.

I fully agree...I remember what happened in th 80's with Ethiopia. We were bombarded with images of starving Ethiopian children, and practically guilted into sending tons of food aid, thinking the problem was essentially a famine brought about by a severe drought. Later, the truth began to come out: it wasn't an environmental issue, and had nothing to do with the supposed stinginess of the West; the Ethiopians had dealt with droughts many times before with little problem...they knew how to handle them. The famine was deliberately created by the Ethiopian government in order to wipe out tribes that would not submit to their domination. The food that was sent never reached the people; it wasn't permitted to be brought in, but sat rotting in the harbour. And when people tried to emigrate to Sudan, the Ethiopian airforce strafed the fleeing refugees. The government didn't just want them gone, they wanted them dead.

[almaty 19]

Africa has always been a step child to europe and the usa....