Thursday, March 8, 2018

Zimbabwe: Crackdown

ZIMBABWE

Crackdown

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa is getting mixed reviews on his first 100 days in office – as he seeks to root out corruption associated with the 37-year reign of ex-President Robert Mugabe.
Mnangagwa has instituted free, state-financed medical care for children and the elderly and a temporary reduction in fuel prices, Al-Jazeera reported. He has also proposed special anti-corruption courts and overseen the arrests of several high-profile public figures on allegations of graft, on top of already having clawed back at least $250 million out of an estimated $1.3 billion stashed abroad with a three-month amnesty scheme he introduced in December.
Skeptics say there are still corrupt officials in Mnangagwa’s own cabinet and his job creation strategy has yet to yield results. But one policy expert who worked on the 100-day plan told the news agency that deals with Belarus, Russia and China, as well as a $400 million deal to upgrade the railways and a $20 million lifeline to the Cold Storage Company (CSC), are “significant indicators that show it is possible to embark on change and the political leadership to do so is there.”

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