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BBC NEWS | Africa | Zimbabwe inflation 'incalculable'



How can an economy survive at those levels? Is the simple answer "that is can not"? In which case, what happens?

blockmonke@fsmail.net

Give it time

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

And then what? As an ex-member of the Commonwealth, they'll all come here?

Alcazar

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

Many white Zimbabweans, and members of the MDC already do come here - living in a Zanu-PF controlled Zimbabwe simply isn't an option, arrest, harrassment and torture is a daily occurance. Many Zimbabwean members of the British Army cannot return home because they get arrested and beaten as soon as they fly into the country.

In my opinion - the Commonwealth as a whole should have done something about this as soon as Mugabe started his little racist purges, but then of course we would be accused of colonialism.

Klaatu

There's no oil there. I have a Zimbabwean friend living in New Zealand, her family are still in Zimbabwe, reasonably well off, but struggling. She is very distraught, but going on a "holiday" to catch up with family in a few days. I hope she'll be OK.

Suresh

This isn't about oil FFS.

What it needs is an African solution to an African problem. Instead, the regional leaders sit on their hands. Much easier to do nothing and to blame whitey.

Do the liberals admit that Ian Smith may have actually been right?

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

Seeing as I can only think of a couple of African countries... well.. Kenya anyhow.. and Djibouti isn't too bas as long as you squint a little.. with a working Government which isn't rife with corruption.. that might be difficult

TopBanana

It's not all bad... especially when you make take out loans denominated in Zimbabwean dollars at a preferential interest rate

dpb

You can only withdraw 1000 dollars a day from the bank now. My girlfriends house is rented out at £1.50 a month - and the tennants ( who are proffessionals) are struggling to pay that ..!

Actually Botswana is doing reasonably and this is where relatives are buying from .

Could take another ten years to collapse competley which is why the girlfriend is taking permanant leave to remain .

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

I certainly wouldn't blame her for staying permanently.. and to be honest, as head of the commonwealth, I think we're partly responsible for letting the situation get so bad in the first place - it just isn't... moral.

dpb

Yep thats quite a bitter subject

Suresh

I was being ironic of course. There will be no African solution. Recolonisation or nothing in my view and they can take it or leave it!

dpb

I Think youll find,even now,they are in search of a more rational mugabe in perefence to the slightest possibilty of recolonisation.

Klaatu

If oil was there, Mugabe would have been ousted PDQ, that's my point.

vindaloo

Ian Smith and his friends are partially responsible for Mugabe's rise to prominence/power in the first place. That's one aspect to the situation.

Add in a lot of meddling from various hostile powers and virtually no help from the west and the biggest, baddest man becomes the leader of the armed resistance/rebellion. Given that background it's no real surprise he's a bit of a thug.

J.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

That's not true.

Equatorial Guinea has a lot of oil and is a tiny little country. Indeed EG have recently done a deal with Zimbabwe to supply oil.

EG also has one of the few leaders in Africa who is measurably significantly worse than Mugabe on human rights and corruption. He has been in power for some time and when some people tried to take his country (for his oil) they were banged up all over Africa. (Except for Mark Thatcher who was merely slapped on the wrist for claiming to not really know what was going on!)

So EG have terrible human rights, little defence, lots of money and oil, are not very popular with the neighbours and continue happily doing what they do. Maybe the Americans just haven't found out where they are on the map yet.

The other point I would make is that is very wrong to assume that 'Africa' is a single homogenous problem and can only benefit from a single homogenous solution.

Africa is massively varied with the Muslim countries in the North, developing economies in the West, primative communities in the Central and Eastern regions and the kaliedescope of the South.

David Lock

The population as a whole under Ian Smith were massively better off. The country produced food for itself and others and the white farmers treated their workers reasonably in a sort of Wilbur Smith type way. Us smokers helped of course They even survived during fairly tough sanctions.

Trouble was Smith was stuck in a colonial time warp and simply couldn't accept that blacks could ever run the place. His words were "Never in a 1000 years". Not all his fault as the colonial era wasn't exactly renowned for its forward thinking educational policies.

The West take the view that you can't just walk into a country which is not a threat and take over. And one must sympathise with that view?

Even if we pursuaded RSA to send in a hit squad Mugabe has a very strong powerbase and you woud just end up with a Mugabe clone. Maybe it will end up all Chinese as they seem to be spending a lot of money and effort in the region.

I think Mugabe himself may well have mental problems (seriously).

Tragic, as it is such a beautiful country. dl

Martin2005

The usual conspiritorial drivel

OllyK

Kenyan government not rife with corruption

It was as bent as buggery under Moy, his home township of Eldoret came out as being the second biggest city after Nairobi and thus justified having it's own International Airport, yeah right!

Mwai Kibaki may have claimed he was going to sort it, but speaking to my cousin who lives there, there has been little or no improvement, international aid still gets siphoned off before it gets to those that need it.

stringostar

i aint bothered what happens across the shores... i wake up on a morning, goto work, earn my money, go home, eat food with the family and go to bed. and then the free times i have in between, i spend with friends or my son... my life is sorted so i'm happy

Leslie

Zimbabwe/Rhodesia was a great country for all when Ian Smith was in charge, he ruled it for all the people.

What a travesty it is now!

Les

SetoN

RSA turning out the same

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

I was talking on the about the African Scale..

Promoting all of your fellow Clan members and enjoying the benefits of International Aid before anyone else are simply job perks

Trout

iTrader: (1)

It is a travesty now and it was a different travesty then. How you can describe it as a great country where the very vast majority of the population were open to physical, mental and fiscal abuse and were subjugated by the very small minority is beyond me.

I spent the weekend with someone from Smith's Rhodesia who said he knew it was time to leave when it was frowned upon for 'hitting a kaffa openly in the street'.

Sounds like a 'great country' to me.

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

As opposed to now, when its the very vast majority of the population are open to physical, mental and fiscal abuse and are subjugated by the very small minority.

Except now its black members of Zanu-PF.

dpb

Yes but these boys are recruited on the basis that the alternative is not to eat - the vast majority would rather have mugabe still in preference to a smith like regime for the reasons outlinned above

David Lock

I doubt that very much indeed. dl

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Prasius,

we are in complete agreement. I agree it is a travesty now.

I just cannot stand by anyone who thinks that Smith's Rhodesia was a good thing! It chills me to the core.

R

dpb

I doubted it too,but this is what my g.friend is saying and is one of the only reasons Mugabe is able to hang on in there along with the fact that elements with in the Mdc are taking funding from the far right whites ( believe it or not) Tsvangirai included.

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

It just bugs me a little that certain elements who are full of indignation when "white colonists" (who, lets remember, are just as Zimbabwean as black Zimbabweans - if their not, then it blows any concept of cultural diversity that these same people seem to love so much out of the water) abuse blacks - yet are happy to turn a blind eye when a number of blacks, not only do it to the whites, but to their ethnic "brothers" as well. The hypocracy of it really, really winds me up.

The MDC are going to struggle while they continue to fight amongst themselves.