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'Tougher times ahead in Zim'
25/03/2008 08:54 - (SA)
Godfrey Marawanyika
Harare - Zimbabweans go to the polls on Saturday hoping for an end to a chronic economic crisis, which has condemned millions to grinding poverty and prompted the exodus of up to a third of the population.
The joint presidential, legislative and local council polls came at a time the country's inflation rate had breached the 100 000% mark, at least 80% of the population was living below the poverty threshold while thousands of school-leavers added to ever-growing unemployment statistics.
President Robert Mugabe, 84, seeking a sixth term at the helm of the country, was being challenged by his former finance minister Simba Makoni, Movement For Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai and obscure independent Langton Toungana.
Godfrey Kanyenze, chief economist of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), predicted tough times ahead for Zimbabwe if Mugabe wins.
Many firms 'quit' in Zim
Kanyenze said: "The state of the economy is attached to Bob (Mugabe), if he goes then economy will improve. But if he stays things would continue as they are."
Once host to many international companies, the country had seen many firms pull down the shutters or move to neighbouring southern African nations.
The ones that had remained were operating at a fraction of their capacity as they battle to procure scarce foreign currency to import spare parts and raw materials.
An estimated three million Zimbabweans had migrated to greener pastures in neighbouring countries, as well as Europe and Australia.
David Mupamhadzi, an economist with the finance group Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group, said one could only tell in the aftermath of the elections what the future held for the country.
"Investors have adopted a wait and see attitude because of the elections, but meanwhile the economy is bleeding," said Mupamhadzi.
Basic food 'scarce' in Zim
The once vibrant economy, seen as a regional model, was now a shadow of its former self 28 years after attaining independence.
Basics such as sugar and cooking oil were scarce for a population that had to deal with erratic water and power supplies as well as potholed roads and broken sewers.
In a bid to revive the economy, the Mugabe government was expected to launch a five-year economic blue print called the Zimbabwe Economic Development Strategy (ZEDS) if it retained power.
According to reports, the government said the primary objective of the new policy was "to facilitate broad-based wealth creation, which is oriented towards poverty reduction and integration of previously marginalised groups of the population into the mainstream economy".
Mugabe's government had been battling to tame inflation, at one stage lopping off zeros from the currency and imposing price controls on basic goods - a move which later backfired as this led to mass shortages in shops.
Tsvangirai had promised to reduce spiralling inflation, making the creation of a body known as the Zimbabwe Economic Development Council central to the revival of the economy.
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