- Dear Family and Friends,
-
- As early as nine in the morning at least two hundred
and fifty people stood in snaking lines waiting to be searched on the road
side. Three buses, one minibus, one haulage truck and 14 cars had been
ordered to stop at the roadblock. This is not a description of a scene
in war torn Lebanon or Iraq, but of a simple single lane highway coming
into the Zimbabwean town of Marondera on Friday morning. The passengers
from all the buses had been ordered to get out, line up and open their
suitcases, hold-alls and even hand bags so that they could be searched.
The driver of the haulage truck had been ordered to undo all the tie downs
and remove the huge tarpaulin that covered a full load of freight on his
trailer. Most of the people in the string of cars that grew ever longer
were having to get out and open boots and push seats forward.
-
- The interrogations and searches were being conducted
by youngsters in their late teens and early twenties. And what where all
these young "officials" looking for - it wasn't guns or bombs
or drugs it was money - our own money. If people were carrying more than
was "allowed" by the Governor of the Reserve Bank, it was being
confiscated at road blocks by pimply faced youths until you could prove
where you got our own money from.
-
- It has been an utterly shambolic week in Zimbabwe which
began on Tuesday when the Reserve Bank Governor knocked three zeroes off
our currency and introduced a new set of notes which are to be used as
money. He called them "a new family of bearer cheques." The Reserve
Bank Governor said that we have three weeks to change all our old dollars
into new dollars and that from the 21st August our existing bank notes
would no longer be recognised as money. But it isn't really three weeks
because there are two public holidays, three Sundays and three half working
days in the change over period.
-
- The Governor then set limits for the amounts of money
people and companies could change at a time - with maximum amounts being
set per week. He barred all retail outlets from selling goods worth more
than 100 million dollars ( 100 Pounds Sterling) in cash to one customer
and said no one could move around with more than 100 million dollars in
cash on them. If there was petrol to buy - which suddenly there isn't -
100 million dollars would only just be enough to fill a standard fuel tank
of a family car.
-
- Cheques were being rejected by banks if they were written
in the old denominations, ATM dispensers were shut down, most shops did
not have the new notes and the banks were still giving out old notes for
withdrawals. Everyone I met was panicking. Most do not have bank accounts
so if the banks haven't got the new notes to exchange for the old, they
are sunk and have no option except to frantically spend whatever money
they have on things they can't afford, just to get rid of the old money.
-
- And then, worst of all, came the typical threats and
intimidation so characteristic of life in Zimbabwe. Just two days after
making his announcement, the Governor of the Reserve Bank said he was considering
shortening the time period even further - to stop the crooks. He did not
say what happens to the plain, ordinary, desperately poor people who aren't
crooks.
-
- People with just a few million dollars in remote dusty
villages who would have to use most of their money just to get to a town
with a bank. There are apparently no exceptions for the weak, the frail
or the elderly, for those who are in hospital, incapacitated or unable
to travel - there is not a glimmer of compassion for the common man and
woman.
-
- Zimbabwe this week feels closer to a revolution than
at any other time in the last six years. The rage on people's faces as
they stand waiting to be searched at the road blocks, waiting to have their
own money taken from them, is palpable.
-
- Until next week, thanks for reading,
-
- love cathy.
-
- Copyright cathy buckle 5th August 2006. http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available
from: orders@africabookcentre.com
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