Long, chaotic lines of vehicles built up on Friday at the few gas stations still supplying fuel after the government banned a hard-currency coupon gas-purchasing system used by well-to-do Zimbabweans. The worsening gasoline shortages caused panic among drivers on Friday.
State media published photographs on Tuesday said to have been taken by a camera hidden in the bedroom of Zimbabwean Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, claiming they show the outspoken government critic undressing along with a woman named in an adultery case.
A Zimbabwe Foreign Ministry official gatecrashed the United States embassy’s July 4 celebrations on Wednesday to criticise outgoing ambassador Christopher Dell, saying ”diplomats are supposed to be bridge builders not bridge busters”. Samuel Mhango criticised Dell for remarks he made in an address on Wednesday on the assault by police of opposition leaders in Harare.
Store shelves normally stocked with staples such as corn meal, cooking oil and sugar were empty on Tuesday as the Zimbabwe government threatened to take over manufacturers and retailers who failed to slash prices by half. Smaller shops shut down after running out of stock.
The value of the Zimbabwean dollar suffered its worst crash in memory, dealers said, sparking a run on dollars and forcing stores to close early to put new prices on what little they could afford to stock. ”It’s gone crazy,” said the trader, who spoke on condition of anonymity because his dealings are illegal.
Momentum is building to start South African-brokered talks to resolve Zimbabwe’s deepening crisis. But the opposition Movement for Democratic Change has again refused demands that before talks proceed, it recognise President Robert Mugabe as the nation’s legitimately elected leader.
Armed police violently broke up a demonstration of lawyers wearing traditional legal gowns outside Zimbabwe’s High Court on Tuesday and took several away and beat them, the independent Law Society and witnesses said. One group was taken to open grassland in the Eastlea suburb of Harare where they were assaulted, said attorney Beatrice Mtetwa.
The ruling party has resolved differences over a power struggle to succeed President Robert Mugabe and backed him to stay in office for another six years. Didymus Mutasa, the powerful number three official in Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party, said Mugabe’s succession was now off the agenda.
Zimbabwe’s government announced a 680% increase in the price of corn, the staple food, as the nation marked May Day amid rapidly worsening economic woes. The food hike cast a pall over countrywide activities for a labour day already focusing on deepening poverty and continuing political turmoil.
Zimbabwe’s independence anniversary is approaching, but the mood is far from celebratory in a nation blighted by an upsurge in political violence and deepening economic chaos. The Zimbabwean opposition and critics abroad accuse President Robert Mugabe of economic mismanagement and political oppression.