Zimbabwe Update

Well, it's been about a month, so it's time to review again how screwed things up are in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe.

On the bright side, we are seeing push-back from various institutions in Zimbabwe, which seem all to be tied to the knowledge that Robert Mugabe, who is 85, will not be around for much longer.

The most obvious sign is the struggle within the ZANU-PF over who the next Vice President should be. It's clear that everyone out there feels that whoever has this post is likely to succeed Mugabe, particularly given the earlier reports of his ill health.

On a more significant note, we are now seeing that banks are no longer considering Mugabe's land grab letters as sufficient collateral for loans:

Zanu (PF) officials, for long used to free agricultural implements and inputs from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe after taking over large-scale commercial farms, could be facing a gloomy year.

Not only is the government prioritising small-scale farmers this time around, but banks have resisted pressure to accept ‘offer letters’ and 99-year leases as collateral for loans.

President Robert Mugabe and Zanu (PF) have been lobbying banks to accept as collateral the ‘offer letters’, which purportedly authorise the holder to forcibly take over a farm.

However, at the weekend, the Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe reiterated that banks required “asset-based security”.

Basically, the banks are seeing Mugabe as not being long for this earth, and so they don't want to be left holding the bag.

The push back is getting severe enough that even the criminal courts are actually starting to apply the law in something resembling a non-corrupt manner, with the Zimbabwe Supreme Court dismissing terrorism charges against human rights Jestina Mukoko, and declaring that she was terrorized by the state security apparatus, and, perhaps more significantly, the Office of the Attorney General declining to represent government officials who have been sued by her.

These are little steps, however, and we are still seeing things like Roy Bennett, the MDC's nominee for Deputy Agriculture Minister, being indicted and imprisoned on what are clearly trumped up charges of terrorism....Gee...there are a lot of terrorism charges flying about the Zim courts, huh?

In the economy, we are continuing to see improvements in the economy, with inflation continuing to moderate, but the looting by ZANU-PF apparatchiks continues.

Most notably, we have seen the seizure of Meikles Group, a hospitality and import/export firm, and has placed the firm under government control, which, if the earlier seizure of Shabanie Mashaba Mine Holdings, where looting has been so extensive that workers and utilities are not being paid.

We are also similar actions against Nestlé, where the firm has stopped buying its milk from Mugabe's wife's farm in order to comply with Swiss sanctions, and the government has frozen the firm's bank accounts.

Finally, we have the fact that Central Bank governor Gideon Gono and Finance Minister Tendai Biti tusseling over the spending of the recent IMF loan, with Gono, a Mugabe Ally, basically wanting to shovel money to Mugabe cronies, and Biti wanting the money to things like roads, bridges, and healthcare. (here and here)