by the municipal police at 6.58% , Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the Central Intelligence Office
(CIO) stood at 3.18% and 0.64% respectively. These statistics reveal that ZRP is increasingly playing a
prominent role in perpetuating human rights violations, a notable change from previous years where the
CIO were leading.
Artisanal Mining terror groups continued wreaking havoc in Mashonaland West province, especially in
Kadoma with machete attacks being reported almost every day. Mining gangs are fighting a brutal war
against each other and citizens are often caught in the cross fire or in some instances targeted by these
gangs. Between the months of August and October a total of 105 murder cases have been recorded in mining
areas surrounding Kadoma while 221 cases of assault have been recorded. These figures indicate that there
is a marked increase in lawlessness in the area and innocent citizens are also suffering at the hands of mining
gangs. This is further exacerbated by the fact that the gangs seem to be enjoying impunity as most of them
continue without being arrested.
Zimbabwe’s economy is in a mess and there seems to be no clear indication as to what government has in
store to curb the fast growing desperate situation. Economic challenges come with a myriad of problems
such as failure by the state to provide critical services, leading to suffering and despair among citizens. This
is aptly captured by the recent World Bank report2 (2019) which revealed that 34% of Zimbabweans are
living in extreme poverty. This is an increase from 29% recorded the previous year. Furthermore, a Cost of
Living Expenses Report3 by Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC) released during the course of the
month indicates that Zimbabwe is the second most expensive country in the region. The report revealed
that Zimbabwe scored 51.57 points behind Mauritius which was the highest at 52.44 points. IPC further
notes that the consumer basket in the month of October was pegged at ZWL$2601, making the lowest paid
civil servant earning ZWL$1023 a month incapacitated. Civil servants have since indicated that they can
only afford to go to work twice a week.
All this comes against the back drop of continued price increases. The Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution
Company (ZETDC) hiked electricity costs by 320% from 38.61 cents to 162.16 cents per kilowatt.
Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) recently announced fuel hikes with diesel prices moving
from ZWL$15.64 to ZWL$17.47 and Petrol from ZWL$14.97 to ZWL$16.75. The price hikes, particularly
2
3
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/zimbabwe/overview
http://ipcconsultants.com/ipc-cost-of-living-expenses-report-october-2019-free-download/
2