Talk To The Suffering People On The Street

I CAME back to Zimbabwe on Sunday after being away for a few weeks.

Although I was expecting the Zimbabwe dollar to have slipped further, I was not prepared for the shock I had as I ran around organising myself again.  On Monday at the bank, I was informed that US$100  would buy me $50 000 —— which is a rate of 500-1.  The few people in the bank were complaining bitterly, and saying openly they would go onto the street instead. This means that the street rate there was 50 000 – 1, or 100 times the bank rate!  Meanwhile there was no water, no electricity and no telephone landline at my house again —— but both electricity and phone later came back on.  Water for the high density areas of Glen View and Budiriro has been handed over to the Civil Protection Unit because of the increasing incidence of cholera.One wonders whether any of the negotiating “principals” has talked to ordinary people trying to cope with the daily struggle for survival recently.  I can only pray that Sadc manages to resolve the impasse over the power-sharing agreement this weekend, so that we can begin to return our poor country to something like normality.  

Trudy Stevenson,Harare.