Monday - August 06, 2007

Robert Mugabe, Economic Genius: Part Two 

With an encroaching famine and inflation at over 4000% percent, Mugabe decided that the solution to Zimbabwe's problems was a mass arrest.  After all, the mess in Zimbabwe must be somebody' fault.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has warned businesses to comply with a controversial price freeze, after his security forces arrested more than 7,000 people for violating the new policy over the past few weeks.

"Some (businesses) are resisting saying they will not supply goods and services, but we say you will," state media quoted him on Monday as telling a conference in Malaysia.

Mugabe has stepped up a crackdown on the opposition and defied criticism from Western powers as Zimbabweans struggle to cope with the world's highest inflation rate and severe food, fuel and foreign currency shortages.

Police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka told The Herald newspaper almost 7,500 people had been arrested for overcharging, failing to display prices or concealing basic commodities in the past six weeks.

Mugabe's government ordered stores to roll back prices on bread, milk and other items to mid-June levels in an effort to stem runaway inflation that is hovering around 5,000 percent.

The move has led to panic-buying and prompted stores to stop stocking basic goods as more and more desperate Zimbabweans flee to neighboring South Africa in search of work and food, putting the continent's biggest economy under pressure.

Capitalizing on a divided opposition, Mugabe has tightened his grip on power, deploying a crack unit made up of the police, military, intelligence and civilian officials to enforce the controversial price controls.

Author: Satanic Source
Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe Mugabe
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