#2 Bitter Harvest, page 395:
The principal economic problem resulted from the government's inability to curb its reckless spending spree. The civil service continued to expand, the security forces were thriving and government ministers lived in opulence. They asked: 'Why are people concerned; after all, the government provides the money?'
But at what price - the poor taxpayer received the message every day. Infation had reached 50 per cent, interest rates peaked at 55 per cent and unemployment continued to increase - as it had done for the past twelve years since the coming to power of ZANU(PF). Headlines in March 1993 told us that the Minister of Defense was planning a 40 per cent reduction in the size of the army - proportional to population the largest in Africa. However, in the national budget producted in Parliament at the end of July there was an increase of 14 per cent in the defence vote! The largest increases went to those ministries which helped to prop up the government, such as Information, which was a massive propaganda machine dedicated to brainwashing the public into expecting 'miracles' performed by ZANU(PF). |