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Double standards as elite gain from price controls
Tererai Karimakwenda, SW Radio Africa
July 18, 2007

http://allafrica.com/stories/200707181401.html

Although many ordinary shoppers may have bought a few reduced items during the government enforced price controls over the last three weeks, the so-called Operation Dzikisa Mitengo (Reduced Prices) has been an even greater opportunity for the elite in the country to loot with impunity. And those authorised to monitor the exercise have also taken advantage of their positions and helped themselves to goods, while applying the law selectively to their advantage. Bulawayo based lawyer Josphat Tshuma said he noticed that some of the price task forces appeared to have colluded with "would-be shoppers" in order to loot expensive goods at prices lower than those stipulated by government. He described how long queues suspiciously developed in front of certain shops very early in the morning before they opened. This was followed by the sudden appearance of a task force accompanied by unidentified individuals who then forced shop owners to reduce items to ridiculous prices. The gang that had already been waiting outside is then allowed in and they would buy up almost everything in the shop. Tshuma said the whole operation seemed to be well organised and described it as "military." Shoppers are now struggling with serious shortages and thousands of business executives were arrested, jailed and fined for failing to comply with the new price regulations. But the powerful and well-connected chefs are operating outside the law.

One perfect example is that of the former Zimbabwe National Army Commander Vitalis Zvinavashe, reported in the Zimbabwean newspaper. Now a Senator, Zvinavashe is alleged to have blocked senior police officers supervising the price crackdown from impounding 30 tonnes of cement belonging to him, which he was selling above the stipulated price. Found stashed in a warehouse in the Tynwald suburb of Harare Zvinavashe was selling the cement at $1,5 million a bag while the government controlled price is $150 000. An officer involved in the case is alleged to have said: "He didn't have many words for us, he merely ordered us to leave." In another reported incident, Mugabe's military bodyguards have been accused of seriously assaulting shoppers who were in a queue in Borrowdale Brook in Harare on Tuesday. As the story goes, about 15 of the soldiers demanded to buy groceries ahead of shoppers who had waited for more than four hours at a Spar supermarket. The shoppers refused and chaos broke out as the soldiers began beating up everyone with booted feet and fists. It's reported that the supermarket belongs to the Governor of Mashonaland East and Zanu PF central committee member Ray Kaukonde. The governor has also been accused of hoarding basic commodities. Warehouses at several police stations are reported to be full of all sorts of items confiscated from the shops. In Bulawayo, a police truck was seen packed with furniture and heading for the local station. Our sources also witnessed several incidents in which individuals at these warehouses helped themselves to sugar and other scarce items that had been confiscated, without so much as any paperwork or questions asked.

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