Pasi Ne Zim kwacha!
Now that it’s “official” that the Zim kwacha is not coming back anytime soon, we eagerly await the promise of a big pay day for people who lost their money when the local currency was suspended.
Mugabe promised supporters that once he wins the poll, Zimbabweans will be compensated for the loss of their savings.
Reported the Sunday Mail: “Zimbabweans from all walks of life are scrounging for Zimbabwe dollar notes following the announcement by President Mugabe that those who are still in possession of the currency must keep it as they will be compensated.”
Of course no one asked where the money will come from, but to hazard a guess, the diamond purse shall be opened wide, in fact wider than the margin with which Zanu PF own!
After all, everything under the sun has been pinned on diamonds, and one of the major rifts during that ugly GNU beast was that Tendai Biti was a scrooge who did not want Zimbabweans to benefit from the diamond riches.
(Actually, I just read Munyaradzi Gwisai allege the same!).
Now here is a beautiful picture: every household across the country turns their mattresses down-side-up, ransacks every nook and cranny in their homes, hovels and harems in search of the suspended currency (remember that wad of notes Tsvangirai waved during one of his campaign rallies), runs to banks (surely that’s where they will get “their” money not Zanu PF offices) to claim their dues at the same time civil servants are lining up to get their salaries. Now that’s something to watch!
And there is no need to dabble in elementary economics and the effect of this on money supply, consumer prices, and all that, but merchants of apocalypse-now can already see a throwback to that time many imagined was behind us.
Here is how the Sunday Mail reported it : “He (Mugabe) also said there were consultations between his Office and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono to see how people who lost their money during the switch-over from the Zimbabwe dollar to the multi-currency regime could be compensated.
A snap survey conducted by this paper revealed that most Harare residents are waiting excitedly for the “windfall”.
“Luckily for me, I did not dispose of my Zim-dollars. Since I am going to be given an equivalent of United dollars, I am going to jealously guard my treasure,” Maureen Chakandinakira, an informal trader who sells her wares in Harare’s First Street, said. In the high-density suburb of Rugare in Harare, residents, mostly youngsters, could be seen rummaging through rubbish dumps and open spaces as they sought the much-needed currency.”
Can only be Zanu PF!