By Dr Masimba Mavaza| Zimbabwe has been gripped by a terrible shortage of food stuffs, unprecedented price hikes of 200%, and fuel-drought. Each and every Zimbabwean feels the sharp impact of the economic chaos and self inflicted problems plunging Zimbabwe into an economic jungle.
The most recent mini cabinet reshuffle is giving hope as Fortune Chasi is already running just as he hits the ground. The minister has been so visible to the public in the last few days he has been appointed. However the queues have not run dry.
This fuel shortage is likely going to influence the prices of other goods.
Load shedding has rooted itself comfortably and if not tackled it will be signed off as normal.
Low-income earners and the already unemployed are suffering the most during this period as transport costs sky rocket. The panic buying of fuel which is ongoing is causing shortages. Food sellers are increasing prices, with the hotel industries doing the most of economic destruction. As consumers rushed to stock up due to fears over the outcome of the monetary policy and the speculative currency change, the country bleeds and people are really suffering.
The detractors are starting to speculate and spreading fears in the market which is resulting in the belief that things are going bad. In response to the speculation spreading like wild-fire, the shop owners are starting to hoard stuff creating fictitious shortages which have pushed the prices up.
“There were supply constraints as trucks kept off the road, leading to shortage of food items. There are a lot of people who are benefitting from the chaos. The most painful thing in the whole issue is that it triggers panic buying.
Panic buying is a type of behavior marked by a rapid increase in purchase volume, typically causing the price of a good or security to increase. From a macro perspective, panic buying reduces supply and creates higher demand.
This pushes up inflation and the people will be hard hit. The oil industry in Zimbabwe has been hijacked by the greedy gluttons who are making their fortunes out of this misfortune in the ministry led by Honourable fortune. Zimbabwe’s survival in this problem has suddenly been left in the ugly hands of fortune to be solved by fortune.
The shortage created Is. now leading to substantial price increases at this time while on the pump the price looks stable the same pump charged in foreign currency once you attend the service station with hard cash. Because the service stations can make more money from those who can afford it they then reserve the fuel only for the privileged ones.
During this time of energy crisis most people avoid major towns, with suppliers also unwilling to risk their business. Fuel station refuse to sale their fuel with the hope of selling at a very high unsubstantiated prices or in hard cashIn Harare the central business district is congested with queues of fuel seekers causing serious panic buying and hoarding.
The low-income group bore the brunt since they usually purchase in small quantities every day to match their budget constraints.
They do not have fridges but buy in small quantities and, therefore, if what they are seeking is not available or the price is high, they are forced to alter the spending power,
This problem now facing Zimbabwe is man made. Most Business people have become greedy and wants to maximize profit.
The opposition jumps in the bandwagon and seek to prove that the government is failing to run the country.
It becomes clear that the problems we are facing now are meant to cause mayhem and trigger people to riot and cause civil strife.
With the cabinet reshuffle and the technical demotion of Joram Gumbo and the advent of Comrade Chasi normalisation of supply and the Government’s quick response furl inflation would ease, leading to a drop in overall inflation. This needs our government to act very fast and arrest this decay.
There are government officials and corrupt individuals who are benefiting from this pain. It then begs a question is this a political game. Playing with people’s lives.
Panic buying may result from a number of different events.
Generally panic buying occurs from increased demand which causes an increase in price. Adversely, panic selling has the opposite affect resulting in increased supply and a lower price. Conceptually panic buying and selling on a large scale can have dramatic affects leading to market shifts in various scenarios.
Investment trading and a country’s economic framework provide two settings for broad market affects from panic buying. Both can be important landscapes for following supply, demand and price inflation. Investment trading will typically see more direct and immediate affects from panic buying. A country’s economic framework will also be influenced by panic buying however it would have less of an immediate impact since it causes price fluctuation in goods which are depleted over a longer amount of time from supply backed by inventory.
Our only hope is for the government to flood the market with fuel and upset the greedy blood sucking opportunists who are plying on the poor Zimbabweans.
The situation is not giving our government a good name.
Zimbabwe should expect things to be worse before they get better. As a country we need to work towards progress not to Work against the centre of our life.
In service stations in Harare petrol men tell customers clearly that they will not sell fuel to Pferorists. This shows the opposition is creating a bad name for the government for their own milage.
The cruel idea of persucuting and starving the people to rioting is not patriotic at all. Our country needs people who pool together.
Supply disruptions, which refers to the interruption of normal product supply within supply chains, have been frequently observed around the country. This does not reflect on the government’s inability to govern but on the opposition’s ability to cause havoc. Disruption could be caused by various reasons, such as natural disasters, labor strikes, terrorist attacks, and changes in govern- ment regulation, in our situation we have terrorists dressed as opposition. Who celebrate as people suffer. Who play politics with the lives of the masses. Supply disruption is considered as one of the top concerns for supply chain management and the government must take it very seriously. As a result, recent days have observed an increasing amount of sabotage by the opposition and the business people. The government should deal with supply disruptions, via multi-sourcing, supplier certification, and arresting those raising prices in an unreasonable manner.
The government must use the increasing access to information via Internet and TV and make many consumers to receive timely information about disruptive events. But the actual consequences of these disruptive events are often uncertain so strong action has to be taken.
If we do not stand up against the thugs rolling our country into the forge of economic confusion.
Even the opposition is important to developmen. They must work towards bettering the lives of the people not to punish people by denying them quality of life.
Fuel and energy problems are man made they can be resolved by men.