Devaluing our Lives

Pic:VALUELESS, A man steps over a 10 dollar note at one of the shopping centers in Harare.


The Governor of the Reserve bank of Zimbabwe Dr Gideon Gono anounced in his monitory policy statement on Thursday, the further devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar from 250 to 15000 to the US dollar. This came amid cries from the business sector that the 250 rate was not sustainable. But the governor would not want to succumb to the cries for devaluation without some tricks. The Governor has always been anti devaluation in the past and i think he did not want to be seen as making a u-turn on his policies. The guy loves his image more than anything else and is overloaded with pride.

Gono said the devaluation only applied to what he termed the Drought Mitigation and Economic Stabilisation Fund. He emphasised that this does not mean devaluation. But Mr Governor! you said the new exchange rate covers embassies, farmers, tour operates,NGOs', International transporters,farmers, people in the diaspora AND, AND, AND individuals. Can anyone explain to me in another way. Probably i lost it. Doesn't it look like the above statement covers the entire population.

The devaluation has further escalated the price of basic commodities in shops. By the time the governor had shut his mouth to close his statement, most supermarkets had already changed the prices of most of their products. For example, i went into one of the supermarkets in Harare's Eastlea suburb to buy fresh milk. I had bought it (milk) in the morning at 3500. By the time i arrived around 5pm it had shot up to 12000. What does this translates to, under an environment where the government is keen on slashing price increases? We are going to see more shortages of basic commodities, more queues, more headaches,more stress related illnesses and more pressure on our ill- equipped medical centers, more deaths etc. Cry my beloved country.