Zimbabwe, a country stuck at the road block
Updated on 27 January 2009
Our Zimbabwe writer 'Helen' looks at the disintegration of this troubled nation in her latest Dispatch from Zimbabwe.
Nothing tells the story of the collapse of Zimbabwe better than the images on the side of the road which are there for all to see.
Approaching one of the numerous police road blocks a few kilometres outside of Harare an assortment of armed security personnel stand around waiting to stop, question and search motorists and their vehicles.
Sometimes they stop you and the next time they wave you through and it all seems a very hit and miss affair.
There are police in khaki uniform wearing fluorescent green waistcoats; police in navy blue trousers and grey shirts; soldiers in army camouflage; army "paras" (para-troopers) the elite soldiers who wear red berets and youth brigade members in olive green uniforms.
On Friday one US dollar bought 20 billion Zimbabwe dollars; by Monday one US dollar raised 40 billion Zimbabwe dollars.
No one knows why there are so many forces or so many road blocks, or what they are looking for, and no one asks. In the tall, uncut grass a tatty green tent offers protection for all these security men from the rain as well as a place to cook, eat and rest.
In the rank weeds along the roadside a scattering of one million and fifty thousand dollar bank notes lie abandoned in the vegetation. No one bothers to collect the money or even give it a second glance as the local currency has become virtually worthless.
On Friday one US dollar bought 20 billion Zimbabwe dollars; by Monday one US dollar raised 40 billion Zimbabwe dollars. To put these vast amounts into perspective, one single cucumber was selling for $18bn on Friday and for $38bn on Monday.
At most road intersections in Harare city the traffic lights are not working and the junctions are covered in potholes.
They are vast, cavernous affairs which make drivers weave and zig-zag dangerously in order to avoid bursting tyres and damaging wheels.
Everywhere you look there are police: patrolling in pairs, cycling in groups, driving around on four-wheel quad bikes or simply standing in groups. Some are in full riot gear and most are visibly armed.
They seem to be on alert for something but none do anything to control the traffic flow at intersections and driving is an experience of deadly hazard.
Despite parts of Harare not having had water for as long as a year and with taps disabled, broken water pipes continue to flood roads and scour away tarmac in other parts of the capital. In industrial areas some roads have become virtually impassable to all except for four-wheel drive vehicles.
In urban areas every spare piece of land has been planted with maize: next to railway lines, outside houses, under electricity pylons, surrounding cemeteries, on anthills and even along some residential streets.
The shortage of seed maize left most people planting pips left over from last year's harvest and this, together with the countrywide shortage of fertilizer has produced pathetic results.
Maize plants which by now should be shoulder high, deep green and flowering are in the minority.
Stunted, yellow maize plants with thin stems are less than a foot high and it is unlikely they will produce any cobs at all.
In farming areas the best description of the view is that of dense African bush. There is widespread bush encroachment everywhere and mile after mile of deserted farms.
Boundary and paddock fences have almost all been removed, fields are neither ploughed nor planted, there is no sign of men or machines at work in the land and there is a dramatic reduction in the number of livestock visible.
It's not hard to understand why we are a country riddled with disease, crippled with hunger and whose economy is non existent except in US dollars.
