Good News, Bad News in Zimbabwe
Let’s get the bad news out of the way: cholera. Pretty bad, you’ll have to admit, when your water is contaminated with Vibrio cholerae.
But don’t bum—the good news is that they don’t have any water to begin with.
Problem solved!
Much of the Zimbabwe capital, Harare, is without water, state media reports, at a time of a cholera outbreak.
Water was cut because of a shortage of purification chemicals, The Herald newspaper quotes water authority officials as saying.
At least 425 people have died in recent months from cholera - a disease spread by contaminated water.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said people should stop shaking hands to prevent the disease spreading.
“I want to stress the issue of shaking hands. Although it’s part of our tradition to shake hands, it’s high time people stopped shaking hands,” he told The Herald.
Don’t they all hate each other? Who’s shaking hands?
Anyhow, we certainly pray that Hope and Change come to Zimbabwe:
Robert Mugabe owes his position and his life to his armed forces, which have not only kept the Zimbabwean dictator safe from overthrow but also suppressed his opposition. They’ve remained loyal so far, but that may soon change. The rank and file now find life just as hard as the rest of their countrymen:
Restrictions on the amount of cash that can be withdrawn from the country’s banks amid an economic crisis and hyperinflation mean that soldiers, like the rest of the population, can only take out the equivalent of 50 pence a day - enough to buy a single banana.
Fourteen soldiers were arrested this week after scores went on the rampage in the capital Harare and the middle class suburb of Braeside, attacking foreign currency dealers with batons.
Inflation being what it is, 50p soon won’t even buy a banana peel. But maybe half a moist towelette would be affordable.