It looks like President Robert Mugabe’s time may finally be running out. That is not to say he will be kicked out in days, but the wall that protects him, the military, is losing its discipline.
About 70 soldiers appeared at a Harare bank to withdraw money. They were told the bank had run out of money. The soldiers then rioted by smashing windows, assaulting currency dealer and robbing them.
Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world. It is around 231 million percent, but that is the official rate. Other analysts say the actual rate is in the billions of percent. The maximum bank withdrawal is good for a quarter of a loaf of bread.
When people are paid, they have to spend the money as quick as possible so it does not lose its value.
A soldier, who declined to be identified, told a local reporter: ‘We have no food in the barracks. There is no medication in military hospitals, and we cannot access our money in the banks. Even if people are to riot, there would be no enthusiasm to stop them.’
Zimbabwe’s soldiers and police are paid in local currency. A police officer, who declined to be named, said: ‘The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has a facility for us to collect money, but senior officers are looting all of it and asking us to go to get ours from the banks.’
Defence analyst Michael Quintana said the violence might signal the beginning of the end for the Mugabe regime. ‘The army is down in strength from nearly 40,000 to about 26,000. There have been thousands of desertions. Barracks have stopped feeding all but senior officers, and soldiers depend on corruption and theft for incomes. If the time has come when they are ready to revolt, then the game will soon be up for Mugabe.’
Would that it could have happened a decade or two ago. Mugabe’s in his eighties now.