Publications
Partners
News from the ground in Zimbabwe, one of the avenues President Robert Mugabe is looking to control further, is not for the faint-hearted, as Cathy Buckle reports back to all those living outside the country.
In the piece below, Buckle reflects on an October in Zimbabwe, and it’s not pleasant reading. She questions the Minister of Local Government’s rhetoric that people should not be using contraceptives.
While the Minister of Energy blames the meteorological department for the energy crisis. And to put the icing on the cake, she questions the Vice President’s spending habits, which saw the family stay in a five-star hotel for 290 days costing $120 000, while the country is in effect broke.
She also has a few more examples to show why it really is a Red October in Zimbabwe. A fantastic read, and you’ll find it hard to come up for air. – Stuart Lowman
By Cathy Buckle*
You know its October in Zimbabwe:
When it’s too hot to walk barefoot outside and the Jacaranda trees drop purple flowers far and wide.
When the African hoopoes call whoop whoop, whoop whoop, and stab the baked ground to catch insects in a single scoop.
When you spend your days looking up at the wide blue sky.
Will it rain today you ask with exasperated sigh?
You know you’re in Zimbabwe this October because:
Where else would the Minister of Local Government say contraceptives should not be used?
“Go home and make babies” he said.
“Forward with President Mugabe, forward with growing our population, down with the use of contraceptives!” the Minister chanted. And this is in a country where 90% of the population are unemployed and very few of the country’s 300 000 annual school and college graduates ever find jobs.
Read also: Cathy Buckle: Zimbabwe – Suffer continues – lessons for SA
You know you’re in Zimbabwe this October because:
Where else would the Minister of Energy blame the Meteorological Department for the country’s energy crisis? Apparently ‘wrong predictions’ were responsible for the government’s failure to plan against low water levels in Kariba Dam where hydroelectricity is generated.
“…it turned out that the Met department had seen mist rather than rain during their predictions,” the Minister said. “My department has become skeptical of the Met office and we will henceforth take whatever they say with a big pinch of salt,” he added.
You know you’re in Zimbabwe this October because:
Where else would the Vice President of the country stay in a luxury 5 star hotel for over 290 days with his family at the expense of the government, at a cost so far in excess of US$120 000 because ‘suitable accommodation” has not yet been found for him.
And this in a country which is broke and has external debt of over 7 billion and internal debt of over 9 billion US dollars.
Read also: SA’s future? Cathy Buckle: Zim’s daily slog for bread, 18 hours loadshedding
You know you’re in Zimbabwe this October because:
Where else would a black Zimbabwean doctor who is resident in the UK and has managed to get British citizenship return to Zimbabwe to invade a farm? The British medical doctor who runs a medical centre in Nottingham England has invaded a tobacco farm in Centenary and ordered the white Zimbabwean farmer to vacate the property.
“ I am not going to be forced to give it to a man who holds a British passport,” the farmer said. And this is in a country which has just put out an appeal for $86m in food aid to urgently support 1.5 million Zimbabweans.
* Cathy Buckle is the author of four children books. She has also written the non-fictional African Tears, the Zimbabwe Land Invasions, Beyond Tears: Zimbabwe’s tragedy, Innocent Victims: Rescuing the Stranded Animals of Zimbabwe’s Farm Invasions and Sleeping Like a Hare. The article was first published at www.cathybuckle.com.
* For more in-depth business news, visit biznews.com or simply sign up for the daily newsletter.
