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Zimbabwe’s economy is poised on the edge of an abyss.
The hardships that provoked riots around Harare - steep rises in prices of bread, sugar, transport and other basic commodities - are going to get worse, not better.
Yet we are stood still, awaiting an enquiry from the United Nations on the involvement of Robert Mugabe in the decline of the African Country. Is it not obvious enough, In 1997 in order to quell unrest he awarded large, unbudgeted, payments to veterans of the independence war, His policy of farm acquisition without compensating their white owners alienated many in the international community, and the decision to send troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was a severe financial drain and estimates put the cost of maintaining Zimbabwe’s military intervention in the DRC at around $30m per month.

Through all of this sheer madness, we have sat back shook our heads, yet we still finance a war in Iraq and Afganisthan. The effect on the urban population of Zimbabwe has been catastrophic.
Many Zimbabweans can no longer afford to travel to work from the townships built during the Rhodesian era to house workers outside Harare’s city centre and Some people are getting up at 4am to walk to work. Others have stopped working for cash altogether.

We need to address this crisis sooner rather than later, it has gone to far and needs to stop. I am sure that Mr Brown has discussed Robert Mugabe and the crisis in Zimbabwe, but he must act now or we will see a country destroyed at the hands of a president who has lost all control of his power.

Scott Buckler, Public Service Review