By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Four days after a court heard how Robert Mugabe’s $150,000 loot in a suitcase was stolen by relatives, Zimbabwe is in a shutdown with a national strike and street protests over shortages of fuel, foreign exchange (forex), and food.
On January 13, Harare more than doubled the official price of petrol to $3.33 per litre, making it the world’s most expensive when compared to prices quoted by GlobalPetrolPrices.com.
Bloomberg reports that the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which represents most labour unions in the country, responded by calling a national strike that began on January 14.
Cash crunch
In the vortex of decades of economic degradation, the single most valuable asset to Zimbabweans today is cash.
Many shops and factories have shut their doors because of a lack of customers. Those still in business are open to haggling over prices to secure hard currency.
At an appliance shop in Harare, a salesman whispers that a Whirlpool Corp. washing machine priced at about $5,000 if paid for electronically will sell for $1,500 in cash, according to Bloomberg.
At a nearby electrical warehouse, a $600 invoice is whittled down to $145 for payment in dollar bills.
Motorists form long queues outside filling stations in the hope of buying petrol when and if supplies arrive, waiting for hours or even days at a time.
The head of Zimbabwe’s main industry body warns that many more companies will shut this month due to the currency shortage.
The city authority in Harare has scaled back refuse removal and other services because it cannot access diesel for its trucks.
Doctors staged a six-week strike to demand improved working conditions and that their salaries be paid in cash. The strike was called off on January 10, but it could take months to clear operation backlogs.
Teachers and other public workers warn that they will down tools unless the government pays them in cash.
United States dollars are highly prized in Zimbabwe. In theory, the local “bond notes” that banks dispense are equal to the U.S. currency – but in reality they buy much less.
Goods paid for electronically cost as much as four-and-a-half times more than if cash were used. Retailers resort to a dual-pricing policy and offering cash discounts, defying the government’s threats to act against them.
Mugabe’s lavish lifestyle amid national poverty
While the 16 million population is in the grip of cash shortage, it emerged on January 10 that Mugabe, who ruled the country for 37 years, had stashed $150,000 in a suitcase at home.
Three people appeared in court accused of stealing the money and allegedly spending it on cars, homes and animals.
Constantia Mugabe, a relative of the former President, is among the accused, government-owned media report, quoted by the BBC.
She allegedly had keys to Mugabe’s rural home in Zvimba, near the capital Harare, and gave the others access.
The other suspects were employed as cleaners at the time of the theft, which allegedly happened some time between December 1, 2018 and early January 2019.
“Johanne Mapurisa bought a Toyota Camry… and a house for $20,000 after the incident,” state Prosecutor Teveraishe Zinyemba told Chinhoyi Magistrates Court.
“Saymore Nhetekwa also bought a Honda… and livestock which included pigs and cattle for an undisclosed amount.”
Zimbabwe became independent of British rule in 1980, and was at time a relatively prosperous country, thriving on agricultural exports.
At independence, real power was vested in Mugabe as Prime Minister in a parliamentary republic. Canaan Banana was a ceremonial President until 1987.
That year, the Constitution was amended to make the Presidency an executive post. Mugabe was appointed to succeed him, and was elected in his own right 1990.
Mugabe had mounted the saddle 1980 and incrementally degraded Zimbabwe for the next 37 years. He insisted on dying in office, until he overplayed his hand in 2017, and was removed by the army. He was 93.
He once claimed that a country could never go bankrupt, but nearly everyone accused him of enjoying a lavish lifestyle while presiding over Zimbabwe’s economic collapse.
Mnangagwa makes no impact
When Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as President on November 24, 2017, he pledged that the country was now open for business.
But chronic shortages of fuel and forex, surging inflation and mass strikes now drive Zimbabwe to the brink of economic collapse and make a mockery of Mnangagwa’s claim.
The last time things were this bad was in 2008, when the country was contending with hyperinflation that saw prices doubling every day, left shop shelves empty and forced people to buy food items from neighboring countries or on the black market.
In 2009, the government abolished the Zimbabwean dollar in favour of the use of other currencies, primarily the U.S. dollar.
The official inflation rate is currently 31 per cent, well short of 2008 levels but still high enough to drive consumers to the black market or import their own food and other basics.
Supermarkets have stopped selling a number of goods and stock outages of everything from bread to coffee are commonplace.