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The latest column by Globe and Mail business writer Neil Reynolds quotes an eyewitness report of the latest predations of Robert Mugabe and his thug regime. For the past two weeks, armed police have roamed the streets looking for store owners who have failed to reduce prices to arbitrarily low levels. Those found to be in violation of ill-defined price controls are arrested and their goods confiscated. I wonder who gets to use the stolen impounded merchandise.
Here’s a snippet:
"Last weekend, smaller retailers were attacked. One by one, they were approached by small groups of officials, police and militia. The messages were confused and varied from store to store. Some said that the retailers had to reduce prices on a limited range of 18 items. Some instructed them to roll back all their prices to the June 18 level. Some were ordered to cut prices by 50 per cent.
"No opposition or arguments were tolerated. If the retailers resisted, they were arrested and taken to police stations. In other cases, stores that were closed had their doors smashed open and the public invited to buy goods at the reduced prices. Many businesses were faced with near riots as people scrambled for goods.
. . .
"Maize meal, the national staple food, has disappeared from the stores. The price of potatoes has doubled again. The controlled price for rice is half its actual cost and rice supplies will run out by next week. The supermarkets can't restock, either because they cannot buy at the controlled prices or the products are simply not available at any price. All of our basic foods will start to run out next week."This morning, we watched a police raid on a small 'Spaza' store, run by a single woman with a teenage son. A seven-ton truck arrived with four police officers, who collected all of her stock and loaded it onto the truck. The woman was ordered to appear in court at 14:00 hours. In court, she was harangued and fined $40,000. Her goods were off-loaded into a large warehouse which was full of confiscated goods."
Thus does state coercion serve state corruption.
Last week in Harare, not a single butcher or baker had food for sale. Shops are closing across Zimbabwe. Mass starvation cannot be far behind. It may be that, at long last, Mugabe’s end is near—but he seems determined to take the entire country down with him. Lord, have mercy.
The quoted report comes from Eddie Cross who maintains a blog here.
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