Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Zimbabwe: Things are not improving

The latest from Zimbabwe:

On Friday, President Mugabe signed into law an act permitting state security agencies full access to "private" telephone conversations, mail, and Internet use. The official line says the law is designed to protect national security and eliminate crime.

Since the economy is in free-fall, mass famine is imminent, and chaos seem unavoidable, I sorta doubt the security services are interested in preventing old people from falling prey to the Nigerian bank spam scam.

In an unrelated matter, the government is now going after the few white farmers who have refused to hand over their farms to be "redistributed". Apparently, about 600 white farmers have kept their land since the Mugabe government ordered them to leave back in 2000.

Given the dreadful output of "redistributed" farmland, these 600 commercial farms are probably the reason the famine hasn't started already.

Regardless, official sources say the farmers were notified 3 months ago to wind down operations and get the f*** out. Those who have not done so by now face arrest.

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