Mugabenomics in action: Zimbabwe's Price police to prosecute overchargers

[Hail Columbia]

http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=21249&

[This is economics the stupid way or the communist way. It might be his intention to break the power of the businesses. Mugabe is not that stupid. He's just extremely evil. Jan]

Harare/Johannesburg - President Robert Mugabe's price police are getting ready to prosecute shopowners who are flouting price controls as Zimbabweans struggle to afford the most basic goods, state media reported on Monday.

The National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC) set up after Mugabe's controversial programme of price slashes in July has finished compiling a list of manufacturers, shop owners and service providers who have been circumventing gazetted prices and has handed over their names to the police for prosecution, said the official Herald daily.

The Herald said recent weeks had seen a repeat of the price madness that prompted the authorities to impose price slashes last year.

More than 23 000 people were arrested and fined in the blitz, which rapidly emptied supermarkets. Many basics like meat, bread and cooking oil are still in short supply. Shop owners hesitate to replenish their stocks because of the low prices imposed by the NIPC.

More than 23 000 people were arrested
Prices have shot up in recent weeks on the back of skyrocketing inflation now rumoured to have topped 24 000 percent and rampant cash shortages. A single chicken was this weekend selling for more than Z$25-million, more than a teacher's average monthly salary.

"We are aware of some manufacturers and service providers who are contravening the pricing regulations. So the commission has listed them and has since provided police with the information for them to take action," NIPC chairperson Godwills Masimirembwa said.

"We have held meetings with some of the manufacturers, shop owners and service providers and we asked them to stick to the stipulated prices but some have decided not to, obviously prompting us to act accordingly," he added.

An earlier threat from the NIPC to prosecute overchargers was shot down by central bank governor Gideon Gono who said consumers could not expect prices to remain the same in a hyperinflationary environment.

In a separate editorial the Herald said life had become unbearable for many Zimbabweans because of the rising cost of goods.

Skyrocketing prices have left many Zimbabweans hopeless, not knowing where their next meal would come from, despite availability of commodities in supermarkets, said the Herald, urging police to swiftly prosecute errant shop owners.

"We do not want the list to become one of those that are compiled just to fill up office drawers, without taking deterrent action against the offenders," said the paper.

Manufacturers and storekeepers say they have no choice but to hike prices, given the rapid fall of the local dollar against major international currencies.

Although the finance minister has fixed the official rate of exchange at Z$30 000 to $1, on the unofficial black market the greenback trades at between 1,8 and 5 million units. - Sapa-DPA

[Ambiorix]

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