Mr. Chamisa, 31, says he is cheered and celebrated by ordinary people who see him in his luxury car. “It’s a symbol of authority and power,” he says. “If you don’t have it, people will think you don’t have power. They feel good when they see one of their own in power.”
However, the Globe and Mail is giving the Zimbabwean government some recognition for kickstarting the new “inclusive” government. Yet, donors are weary:
The international donors, who are meeting in Washington this week to discuss a strategy to help Zimbabwe, are considering a compromise aid package that would provide wage subsidies to “top up” the salaries of Zimbabwe’s nurses and teachers for the next four to six months.
“This government is Zimbabwe’s best chance in 20 years,” the Western source said. “If we don’t help them, the government will fail. That’s what we believe. The risk is enormous. The cupboard is bare – there is nothing.”
Aid money will probably serve to inflate the public sector as more and more lackeys want in on the Mercedez Bens and cash perks. The nurses and teachers will go unpaid (as happens in relatively less corrupt Uganda). The plight will continue.
Before Western donors agree to help the new government, they want assurances that it will respect human rights and get rid of old Mugabe cronies such as central bank governor Gideon Gono, the man who fuelled the world’s highest inflation rate by printing huge amounts of banknotes in denominations of up to 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollars.
Mr. Gono remains defiant, still entrenched in his central bank stronghold and showing no sign of leaving. But the MDC has slashed his control of state revenue, halting his gold sales and abolishing the retail licence fees that previously went to the central bank. “We’ve cut Gono’s legs off,” a senior MDC official says. “We’ll get his scalp. There’s no doubt.”