{"id":2154,"date":"2019-01-20T14:57:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-20T14:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/zimbabwe\/?p=2154"},"modified":"2019-01-20T14:57:55","modified_gmt":"2019-01-20T14:57:55","slug":"zimbawe-at-crossroads-as-horror-2019-unfolds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbawe-at-crossroads-as-horror-2019-unfolds","title":{"rendered":"Zimbawe at Crossroads as horror 2019 unfolds"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The palpable fear among many Zimbabweans that 2019 would become yet another \u201cannus horribilis\u201d \u2014 Latin for a horrible year \u2014 has become a harrowing reality, with the country\u2019s political and economic situation declining ever more rapidly, the Daily News on Sunday can report.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>This comes as the sickening events of the past week have disabused even the most optimistic Zimbabweans that \u201call will be well soon\u201d, and that \u201cthings can\u2019t get worse in the country\u201d \u2014 as the economic rot ravaging long-suffering citizens continues to deepen.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>So bad is the situation in the country that a senior ruling Zanu PF bigwig who is also horrified by the sudden turn of events for the worse in Zimbabwe lamented in a conversation with a Daily News on Sunday staffer on Friday that \u201cour very lives and future are now in the hands of the gods\u201d.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThings are beyond bad, and the worst thing is that people don\u2019t even know half of the things that are happening and that continue to go wrong &#8230; and comrades (Zanu PF leaders) are also not reading from the same script,\u201d he said ruefully.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Prominent Zanu PF member and former Finance deputy minister, Terence Mukupe, later bolstered this view \u2014 writing on social media that the country\u2019s worsening mayhem and the State\u2019s much-criticised savage clampdown on protesters and other dissenting voices in the country might be unfolding without the participation of President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is travelling in Europe.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cI\u2019m worried with what\u2019s going on &#8230; The citizens are blind to what\u2019s really going on &#8230; The next 72hrs are going to be crucial regarding the path we are going to take as a nation &#8230; Chokwadi chichabuda (the truth will come out) &#8230; President Mnangagwa is not the issue &#8230; Viva Zimbabwe.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe as Zanu PF are not irrational &#8230; No one benefits from violence and destruction of properties &#8230; Look closer and pray fervently and what\u2019s really going on shall be revealed to you &#8230;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cI salute the Zanu PF Youth league &#8230; You are truly the last line of defence &#8230; Nyararai kuchema for now tomirira kuuya kwaDaddy!!!! (don\u2019t cry as all will be well when ED returns). They can crush our bones but they can never crush our loyalty to our President!! Even mukatirakasha kusiri kufa ndekupi!! (your thuggery will never defeat us),\u201d Mukupe said in his stunning tweets.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Analysts who spoke to this publication also said the events of the past week represented \u201cone of the saddest moments\u201d of post-independent Zimbabwe \u2014 noting further that this had badly affected ordinary citizens, the country\u2019s dying economy, business and the government itself.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Not surprisingly too, Zimbabwe was once again receiving ubiquitous negative coverage around the world, including on influential global satellite television stations such as CNN, BBC and Sky News.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cIt\u2019s a disaster for Zim,\u201d the senior Zanu PF official who spoke to this newspaper said, adding: \u201cThis is also happening at a time that the president is overseas, working hard to try and convince investors to come to Zimbabwe\u201d.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>At the same time, Steve Hanke \u2014 the world-renowned author, currency and inflation expert, and professor of applied economics at The Johns Hopkins University in the United States of America \u2014 says Zimbabwe is now in a \u201cdeath spiral\u201d economically.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cZimbabwe\u2019s annual inflation rate, measured for today, is 234,1 percent. This soaring number spells doom for #Zimbabwe,\u201d he said in a tweet at the weekend.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>And writing on Zimbabwe earlier in Forbes magazine, Hanke said Mnangagwa\u2019s pledge that the country was \u201copen for business\u201d was increasingly ringing hollow.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cIndeed, many businesses in Zimbabwe are shuttered. An increase in government controlled fuel prices over the weekend has ignited simmering fury over what is in fact a currency crisis.<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn response, Zimbabwe\u2019s security forces have launched a violent crackdown on protesters and opposition politicians. The crackdown has been done under the cover of a social media blackout. Yes, the Internet is shuttered, too.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cZimbabweans realise that Mnangagwa is simply Mugabe in a new suit and with new rhetoric. The reality is one in which the economy is controlled by what in essence is an organised criminal syndicate: the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) party \u2014 the same syndicate that has run Zimbabwe into the ground for over 35 years,\u201d Hanke concluded.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) warned government that it had to address the current economic meltdown which it said was behind the current unrest.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThe Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission has noted with concern the fast deteriorating socio-economic and security situation in Zimbabwe triggered by an assortment of government policy statements and decisions.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThese have had far reaching effects on the household economy causing losses in incomes and savings thereby worsening poverty levels in the country.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cIt is the view of the Commission that most of the austerity measures and decisions are being made with little or no consultation of the relevant stakeholders and citizens and in many instances sound and appear as almost arbitrary,\u201d the rights body said in a statement.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cAs a result there is no buy in or support for these new policies leading to implementation challenges with some key players and citizens resisting the changes.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cRelated to this, there are no structured policy review mechanisms in place to assess and understand both intended and unintended impact of government decisions and policies on citizens and the economy.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cAll policies, no matter how well-meant, can have a negative impact that disproportionately affect the disadvantaged members of society.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cIt is now increasingly difficult for poor families to put food on the table, access medical services, send children to school or enjoy any other socioeconomic rights enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThe Government of Zimbabwe, outside pronouncing a number of austerity measures, has not provided a clear roadmap to economic recovery and prosperity. Key determinants of economic growth are not being dealt with decisively,\u201d the ZHRC said further in a damning assessment of government\u2019s economic measures.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The palpable fear among many Zimbabweans that 2019 would become yet another \u201cannus horribilis\u201d \u2014 Latin for a horrible year \u2014 has become a harrowing reality, with the country\u2019s political and economic situation declining ever more rapidly, the Daily News on Sunday can report. This comes as the sickening events of the past week have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":2156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[152,167,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-2154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"tag-crisis","10":"tag-protesters","11":"tag-protests"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Zimbawe at Crossroads as horror 2019 unfolds - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbawe-at-crossroads-as-horror-2019-unfolds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zimbawe at Crossroads as horror 2019 unfolds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The palpable fear among many Zimbabweans that 2019 would become yet another \u201cannus horribilis\u201d \u2014 Latin for a horrible year \u2014 has become a harrowing reality, with the country\u2019s political and economic situation declining ever more rapidly, the Daily News on Sunday can report. 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