Mugabe replaces Father Christmas.

Summer, spring and winter sales (and autumn), were all the rave in Zimbabwe this last week after the great liberator of colonial oppression, President Robert Mugabe slashed all prices of everything in the land by a minimum of 50%.

Thousands of citizens stormed the shops in unprecedented numbers to take advantage of the pre Christmas/forth coming election bonanza. Many were disappointed as the police and war veterans, forcibly chased them back with whips, so as to load their own vehicles with the bargains. Fridges and freezers were all the rave, which was rather odd, as there is hardly any power (that’s because the government admitted that a monkey had sabotaged a transformer), and even having a generator is no longer going to help as all the petrol has been sold.

Shop owners are terrified, and over 2500 have been arrested so far for refusing to slash prices to suicidal bankruptcy levels.

"This is not going to last," said a company executive who asked not to be
named. "Fuel is going to run out and there will be no deliveries, no
services. The people who are benefiting from this legalised looting will be
the same people throwing stones in a few weeks."

In honour of the President’s brilliant economic plan, Zimbabwe television at the end of a televised debate, aptly entitled, ‘Let Them Eat Kak’ (Afrikaans expletive - Shit), invited a famous ‘70s band to perform his favourite song. It is well worth a look -

You know what this means? Yup, its anarchy with a big A on its way. Mugabe has even stopped the imports of perishables from South Africa! All basic commodities are gone from the shelves. I come across the craziest shit on the net. Hotels in Zim tell their few guests not to pay for the breakfast with credit cards as it will set them back £500 (Yes, I am not joking!).

No western lands can report legally from Zimbabwe but Al Jazeera can – have look at this.

Britain of course has other things to worry about when it comes to Africa.

The Commission for Racial Equality claimed the cartoon book, Tintin In The Congo depicted "hideous racial prejudice" and that it should be removed from sale.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=2H4WMYBJL2ZVRQFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/07/12/ntintin112.xml

Meanwhile, in present day Congo, the government seems fit to treat its populace with equal dignity-

Outcry in Congo as pygmy musicians housed in zoo

Fri 13 Jul 2007, 12:34 GMT

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN347233.html

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Do you remember the haunting footage from 2000 of the floods in Mozambique? If my memory is correct, a South African helicopter rescued a woman, who had taken refuge in a tree and subsequently gave birth there. The world reacted generously to the appeals for help and the little girl and her family were showered with gifts. Seven years later, how are things for the family? –

Flood baby born in a tree is left penniless by her father’s greed

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article2067090.ece

That will do for a while – this global warming is driving me to despair, it hasn’t stopped bloody raining here for two and half months!