Christmas in Zimbabwe: 80 percent unemployment, rising poverty, food and cash shortages
Christmas in Zimbabwe: 80 percent unemployment, rising poverty, food and cash shortages
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabweans are facing bleak holidays this year amid rising poverty, food and cash shortages and political uncertainty, with some describing it as the worst since the formation of the coalition government in the southern African nation.
President Robert Mugabe, in a four-year-old coalition with former opposition leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, announced an extra public holiday Monday which has created chaos for holiday shoppers and travelers. Banks have closed, ATMs have run out of cash and transport services have been paralyzed.
This caps a year of political uncertainty, a deadlock in constitutional reforms and calls for elections in coming months, seen as critical for Mugabe, 88, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980.
In 2008, Mugabe's party was accused of vote-rigging and blamed for the worst election violence since independence. As the election tempo quickens, political intimidation has resurfaced, according to independent human rights groups.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/zimbabweans-brace-bleak-holidays
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