Crumbs all that’s left in Africa breadbasket

…A severe fuel shortage has forced commuter buses off the roads, leaving Zimbabweans living in the townships with little access to what little remains in the city center.

In some parts of the country, even water is being sold on the thriving black market to desperate residents who have gone days without it.


“If you don’t have somebody who’s outside the country supplying you with things, you’re finished,” said Shephard Lunga, 32, a truck driver from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city.

Experts say the African nation’s downfall is the result of the half-baked policies of a president intent on holding onto power at all costs.

Two months ago, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s 83-year-old leader, ordered stores to slash the rising prices of basic commodities to such levels that manufacturers could no longer turn a profit.

The result: They stopped producing their goods, leaving supermarket shelves barren and the populace hungry.

NY Daily News