Zimbabwe army running out of money

Times:

The Army and the state youth militia, organisations crucial to President Mugabe’s continued grasp on power in Zimbabwe, are demoralised and fast running out of money.

The Defence Ministry has already exhausted its budget of Zim$32 billion for rations this year, Trust Maphosa, the Secretary for Defence, told a parliamentary committee this week. The sum was worth £10 million when it was allocated at the beginning of the year but its value has been shrunk by hyperinflation and the collapse of the currency to about £400,000.

A private’s monthly pay in February mounted to Zim$300,000, he said, worth nearly £50. The figure was the result of a sharp increase in army salaries after alarming reports of officers resigning and troops going absent without leave. The 35,000-strong Army is now in a significantly worse position. A private’s pay is equal to about £4.

Mr Maphosa said that training would have to be suspended. The defence forces were suffering from a severe shortage of spare parts for vehicles and machinery and water supplies to several military installations had been cut off because of nonpayment of bills.

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The real question is whether Mugabe has enough to keep his printing presses running and can afford to pay for the paper. How much longer he can continue to draw out his ridiculous government is an open question but it is not without limit.