It has been nearly two years since ailing President Robert Mugabe was driven from power, but the problems he bequeathed to Zimbabwe over 37 years of autocratic rule and economic mismanagement are proving harder to eradicate.<\/p>\n
The United Nations office in Harare this month launched an appeal for more than $300 million in emergency aid to fend off starvation in a country once dubbed \u201cthe breadbasket of Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.N. Ambassador Bishow Parajuli said the funds were needed to cover the humanitarian needs of 3.7 million people through April.<\/p>\n
The struggles of daily life are easy to see. Power is cut for 18 or more hours every day, vehicles line up for miles at dry gas stations, and few goods are stocked on store shelves.<\/p>\n
Most of the would-be shoppers have no cash because the state\u2019s Reserve Bank banned the use of American dollars and South African rands, reintroduced a Zimbabwean dollar and then revealed that the government lacks the funds to print the new notes.<\/p>\n
Frustration at the dashed hopes for post-Mugabe prosperity is building. The main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), plans a major march through Harare on Friday to protest the record of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a onetime ally of Mugabe who emerged as his successor after an army-backed popular uprising in 2017. Mnangagwa won a disputed election last year after promising an era of investment, openness and \u201cgood days ahead\u201d for long-suffering Zimbabweans.<\/p>\n
MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, who says Mnangagwa has squandered the country\u2019s vast potential, is demanding talks with the government as the economy deteriorates. Fears are mounting that Friday\u2019s demonstrations could become violent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cost of doing nothing far exceeds the cost of doing something,\u201d Chamisa said this week. \u201cWe must change our unmerited circumstances and harsh realities of joblessness, hopelessness and poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n
As in Cuba and Venezuela, the government blames its problems on \u201coutside forces,\u201d notably the United States, Britain and Australia, all of which have travel bans on key members of the Mnangagwa government. The president insists the pain will bring substantial payoffs in the near future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have made a return back into the international fold after two decades of isolation,\u201d he said in a national address last week. \u201cWe are on the right path, and our ambitious vision is within<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It has been nearly two years since ailing President Robert Mugabe was driven from power, but the problems he bequeathed to Zimbabwe over 37 years of autocratic rule and economic mismanagement are proving harder to eradicate. The United Nations office in Harare this month launched an appeal for more than $300 million in emergency aid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":12432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[389,91,28,167],"class_list":{"0":"post-12430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-policy","9":"tag-goods","10":"tag-harare","11":"tag-mugabe","12":"tag-protesters"},"yoast_head":"\n