ZwNews Chief Correspondent
It’s 0:600 hours, at Mupfuti Growth Point, in Madziva district, shops have opened already, and this is less than 11 days before Christmas, a radio is playing at full blast from large twin speakers strategically located at the veranda of the main shop.
In the shop, shelves are filled, though with a very limited product range, but at least goods are there, however, it is the prices which are outrageous, with most products selling at treble price compared to prevailing prices in the country’s major cities.
A few glittering Xmas decorations hanging loosely from the ceiling whose fittings have been worn out by the hands of time complimenting the music; ‘Ikhisimusi isifikile’ loosely translated ‘Christmas is upon us’ by the late Paul Matavire.
However, be that as it may, the state of the economy is not matching, the mood being generated by the festive music and setups.
Prices have risen to astronomical levels, as inflationary pressures set in. Although data from the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency, (ZimStat) pegs the inflation rate at slightly above 20%; independent economic scientists are placing it at 122%, in line with the market forces, where the local bond currency is exchanging at $2.90 for a single American dollar.
There is a clear-cut marking the departure of yesteryear’s merrymaking mood that ceremoniously characterised the country by this time of the year.
ZwNews.com had recently been in Madziva, and conducted a vox pop, as to ascertain the people’s mood.
What is your plan for this year’s Christmas? Was our tagline question.
Tichaona Mhembere: “This year is a painful one, there is nothing much to look up to, as far as celebrating Christmas is concerned. My sister in South Africa has since said she won’t be coming home because of the current economic hardships in the country,” he says.
Mhembere adds that though her sister managed to send home a few goodies, seeing her was going to be a worthwhile experience.
Timothy Mbata: “As for me and my family, we will just contend with what is there. We have since adjusted to the prevailing winds,” he says.
A shopkeeper at one of the shops had this to say: “This year resembles the settling of a bad omen, business is so bleak, people coming from cities are not spending as they used to, if compared to the years gone by. Same time last year, travellers could have been spending much, including using foreign currency.”
Meanwhile, Zimbabweans countrywide are bracing up for a very dull Xmas, there is nothing much separating those who are employed or not, those who got a 13th cheque or those who didn’t. The civil servants recently got theirs, but still there is nothing to indicate they did.
Doctors are at loggerheads with their employer ‘the government,’ and rural teachers are engaged in a protest long march against the same employer, for a better pay and improved working conditions.
