‘Tax’ the Mafia – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary

President Mugabe – having failed to sell Zimbabwe in Beijing – is now turning to other salesmen to bail out his bankrupt regime.

Street vendors in Chitungwiza are being told they must register to pay tax to the Zimbabwe Revenue authority, although most of them only manage to scrape up a few dollars a day to feed their families  (see: Zimra descends on vendors – http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zimsit-m-zimra-descends-on-vendors-the-zimbabwean/).

Although Mugabe came home from China with the prospect of various development projects, it is clear there will be no cash injection to pay the government’s running costs. Finance Minister Chinamasa said plaintively: ‘China doesn’t supply budgetary support’ – for all the world as if this is a law of economics instead of a brush-off.

Or perhaps he didn’t want to acknowledge that only the reviled West provides budgetary support for rocky African economies, such as for instance our cousins in Malawi. The upshot is that the Zimbabwe treasury is now, as they put it, about to run out of the readies.

Zimbabweans know all too well what happens when you run out of money: you have to cut your spending, sell your goods, borrow, beg . . . or steal. Mugabe has exhausted this list. Zanu PF can’t cut spending because most of it is on salaries – and where would that leave their supporters?

It can’t sell anything because all parastatals are broke. It can’t borrow because its credit rating is zero. The failed trip to Beijing shows it can’t even beg successfully. That leaves only stealing: so it’s off to Chitungwiza to fleece the poor.

The Vigil believes, however, that there is still an untapped source of funding available: how about cropping the Zanu PF bigwigs and their mysterious wealth? After all, there is a school of thought that argues that wealth not accounted for is necessarily illegitimate.

Take, for instance, the case of Vice-President Mujuru. She appears to be ready for plucking: her brooding clucking certainly suggests as much – feathers flying in all directions. Publically accused by a party stalwart of the premature cremation of her vastly wealthy husband, Mai Mujuri has been quick to come up with money to buy votes.

Perhaps the valiant helicopter downer could be asked to make a donation to the fiscus from some of the reported $9 billion loot left by the late incinerated General Mujuru.

The Vigil is sure he would have wished for no less. And if her rich supporter Didymus Mutasa and other cronies could also be ‘persuaded’ to cough up a billion dollars or so, Zanu PF could look forward with confidence to a well-fed congress in December at which the President could hand over the baton safely to a new generation of Mugabes who could carry on the valiant fight against illegal progress.

Other points

·         Thanks to Fungayi Mabhunu for donning our Mugabe mask for a tableau illustrating the financial desperation of the Zanu PF regime. He was shown with a bucket for donations from the passing public, flanked by posters reading: ‘Bankruptcy sale’, ‘Liquidation’, ‘Everything must go’ and ‘Country clearance’.

·         Zimbabwean food is becoming a popular feature at the Vigil to fundraise for ROHR branches. Today was Fungayi’s turn to bring food in support of Central London branch, He was helped by his wife Thobile Gwebu and Central London member Helen Rukambiro. Also on sale was a car boot full of Zimbabwean greens grown by a local Zimbabwean family. With all the vendors it felt as if we were in Chitungwiza. For a lively account of vendors’ lives in Chitungwiza we recommend: http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zimsit_m_chitungwiza-vendors-bring-smiles-to-stressed-residents-dailynews-live/.

·         The singing and dancing at the Vigil drew an appreciative response from a big march in defence of the National Health Service which took 20 minutes to pass by.

·         Thanks to Brenda Chavundura, Epiphania Phiri, Cecilia Tandi, Kelvin Kamupira and Francesca Toft for arriving early to help set up.

·         Supporter Joseph Chivayo took part in a meeting held in the Houses of Parliament to discuss the situation of asylum seekers in the UK. He said the meeting was a success with more than 30 MPs attending.

For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website. 

FOR THE RECORD: 31 signed the register.