Worst Job

Now it is crunch time. That money, estimated at US$5 billion, has to be paid back - and the government is broke. All the Zanu (PF) fatcats and gravy train hangers on have stashed the money away in foreign bank accounts and no amount of targeted sanctions is going to find it or get it back.
Mugabe himself is said to have purchased a US$6 million mansion in Hong Kong recently.Biti is faced with the daunting task of trying to balance the books in the midst of chaos. Even worse, he is faced with hundreds of thousands of striking civil servants – mainly doctors, nurses and teachers – and several thousand restive and angry soldiers and policemen, all demanding to be paid in hard currency.

At only US$100 per person, this wage bill still comes to millions of US dollars a month – and yet falls far short of their expectations. The teachers have already rejected it and are continuing to strike, demanding a monthly minimum of US$2,600.Zimbabwe under Mugabe and Zanu (PF) has come pretty close to a failed state. Pretty much nothing works any more. To get it back on its feet and working again, Biti needs billions in hard currency. And he needs it fast. But the international community has not been impressed so far by the transitional arrangement. Mugabe and his cabal of generals continue to exercise absolute control. Many MDC officials and activists remain in prison. This week’s farcical court case and continued remanding in custody of MDC treasurer and deputy minister designate for agriculture, Roy Bennett, demonstrate beyond all doubt the contempt with which Mugabe and his junta view the power-sharing deal.

As the man says, it has got to be the worst job in the world.