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Mugabe: Price hikes a plot
05/03/2008 21:49 - (SA)
Mahusekwa - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe accused businesses on Wednesday of hiking prices to turn voters against him ahead of presidential elections later this month.
"They keep raising and raising prices, and we wonder whether they want to raise the prices until the prices reach heaven," Mugabe told thousands of villagers at a campaign rally in Mahusekwa, about 70km south-east of the capital.
"Some are doing it for the elections saying: 'Let's make life hard for the people so that they cry and blame it all on Mugabe's government.
"They'll get 1 000% profit. That's not profit. That's profiteering which is condemned in the Bible."
Mugabe admitted Zimbabweans were facing numerous problems, like food shortages, saying his government had formed emergency committees to expedite food distribution.
Zimbabweans go to the polls on March 29 to elect a president, legislators, senators and local councillors.
Mugabe, 84, is hoping to secure a sixth term of office as leader of the former British colony he has ruled since independence in 1980.
The elections are to take place against a backdrop of economic meltdown in Zimbabwe, which has an official inflation rate of more than 100 000% - the highest in the world.
The government has tried several measures to rein in runaway inflation, including ordering companies to halve prices after accusing them of colluding with Mugabe's foes to trigger anti-government protests.
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Zimbabwe Special Report
