No sooner had I spoken about Zimbabwean roulette than the imbecilic and nincompoopish practice reared its ugly head.
In my blog post I mentioned that when the Zimbabwe government get desperate for cash that they will grab anyone's money or property. No sooner had I spoken than it happened. This time the desperadoes are targeting money invested by parents in the education of their children. According to The Herald the ministry of education was demanding that schools hand over money from parents to the national treasury. The money should not be kept in accounts administered by the schools themselves as is current practice, the government decreed.
Schools in Zimbabwe are allowed to be funded by parents through SDAs (Schools Development Associations). These are bodies funded by levies administered by a parent's association in conjunction with the teachers of the school. The money comes from parents of pupils currently enrolled at the school.
Remember FCAs
In the mid-2000s something similar happened. The government then decreed that all money earned by exporters should be kept in FCAs (foreign currency accounts). Due to the hyperinflation then rampant, people were keeping foreign currency as cash rather than banking it and having it converted to Zimdollars. The decree said people should bank their money as foreign currency and it would be kept as foreign currency.
One morning all holders FCAs woke up to find that their foreign currency had been emptied from accounts and been replaced by worthless and unusable Zimbabwe dollars. The government simply declared that it needed the money and took it.
To this day organisations and companies like the Miekles hotel group have not recovered their money. Some of them fought and won court battles but the government simply responded by passing laws that it cannot be sued or have its property attached.
Where does the money go?
Even a blind worm deep underground knows that once in the hands of the treasury Mugabe's wishes and insatiable hunger for cash take precedence over the original purpose of the money. Of course his number one wish is trotting the globe with a huge entourage of cling-ons.
This particular decree was made at the same time as a Mugabe trip to attend a 'cultural event' in India that even the prime minister of India did not bother to attend. Mugabe had to call off the trip and beat a hasty retreat from India.
I do wish the monumental wastage of money that took place organising the trip could also simply be called off.
What kind of mentality is it that leads a government to take money from schools in order to fund lavish lifestyles of politicians. What happened to conscience?
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