SW Radio Africa (London)
Alex Bell
1 December 2008
Zimbabwe's central bank will yet again raise daily cash withdrawal limits this week, amid mounting tension and threats of serious protest action by civil society.
Zimbabwe's official inflation rate stands at a record breaking 231 million percent, but experts say the rate has reached far beyond the quintillion mark. In an attempt to harness the country's runaway inflation, the Reserve Bank capped daily cash withdrawal limits - a move that promptly backfired. This week's limit increase will be the third in as many months, and each change has brought with it immediate price hikes. The current limit of Z$500,000 a day does not cover even the most basic of living costs and Zimbabweans spend days in queues just to buy food.
At the same time, amid a national cholera crisis that has claimed hundreds of lives, Zimbabweans cannot withdraw enough money to pay for critically needed medication or the transport to get the sick to hospitals and clinics. The situation has led to last week's call by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) for Zimbabweans to converge on banks this Wednesday and stage demonstrations if they fail to withdraw their funds from the banks. The action is set to go ahead in spite of it being a day before the withdrawal limits increase.
As of Thursday the daily limit of Z$500 000 will be increased to Z$100 million a week - which has been averaged at an estimated Z$14 million a day. It is still unclear how the banks will determine the public's daily withdrawal limits, but there are doubts this drastic increase will make any difference on the ground.
Madock Chivasa from pressure group the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) said these measures taken by the Reserve Bank are 'not addressing the problem', arguing the root of the economic crisis is a crisis of 'governance'.
"The central bank can raise the withdrawal limits time and time again, but it has been proved it makes no difference," Chivasa argued. "Until the governance crisis is addressed there will be no change for average Zimbabweans."
Chivasa made the comments while explaining the NCA's decision to postpone its weekly protest to Thursday, in solidarity with the ZCTU action on Wednesday. He explained the move would allow members of the NCA to join the ZCTU action and urged the public to add more pressure by taking part in both demonstrations.
"There is great need for civil society and the public at large to continue to facilitate numerous and diverse protest actions until democracy is established in Zimbabwe," Chivasa said.
Meanwhile, Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe said in a statement on Monday that it calls upon all Zimbabweans and other civic organisations to join in protests to "register anger for the unresolved political, socio-economic multi-layered crises in Zimbabwe."
More than 350 members of the group in Bindura, as well as residents, took to the streets on Monday as part of ROHR's "multilayered campaign for Democracy and Justice." The protests are calling for a quick resolution to the political impasse and the creation of a transitional government that should be able to quickly deal with the worsening humanitarian crisis caused by a total breakdown of the socio-economic fabric of the country. The protesters marched from the CBD of Bindura along the main street and ended at Chipadze, where a strong police presence forced people to disperse.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 SW Radio Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
