Batanai Matsika
“ Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer, things fall apart, the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world”. This is the opening verse of “The Second Coming” poem by William Butler Yeats. The poem was first printed in The Dial in November 1920. There are a number of works whose titles draw from “The Second Coming” including Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart (1958), which is a fascinating story about a man called Okonkwo who rose from nothing to a high position in his clan (Umuofia). Through hard work, he became a great man amongst his people. He took three wives and his barn was always full of yams. He literally ruled his family with an iron fist. However, things go wrong as his gun accidentally explodes and kills a boy.
In accordance with Umuofia’s law, Okonkwo and his family must be exiled for seven years. Okonkwo bears the exile bitterly and when he returns to his homeland he finds out that the white man had come, introducing a religion that seems “mad” to the Igbo people in Umuofia. The story has a tragic ending because after being embittered and grieving for the destruction of his people’s independence, and fearing the humiliation of dying under white law, Okonkwo commits suicide by hanging himself.
In Zimbabwe, there has been some violent mass demonstrations, largely triggered by the price increases of fuel. Moreover, there has also been a brutal crackdown by security forces on protestors across the country. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for peace in Zimbabwe urging stakeholders to work on developing and implementing policies that will stabilise the economy. On another note, the official inflation figure is now at 42% as prices of basic goods and fuel have gone up. In fact, Economist Steve Hanke estimates Zimbabwe’s inflation at more than 200%. According to Zimstats, annual inflation ended the year 2018 at 42.09%, a gain of 11,08 percentage points from the November rate of 31,01%. The CPI for the month ending December 2018 stood at 141,36 compared to 129,65 in November 2018 and 99,49 in December 2017.
The inflation rate is expected to rise by 40% and 50% in the month of January as a result of the massive fuel price increase. There are fears that the country might not be able to cope with higher wage inflation given its low productivity. Capacity utilisation in Zimbabwe’s manufacturing industry is currently at 48,2% but is expected to contract to as low as 30%, especially if the country’s foreign currency shortages persist. According to a survey carried out by the Confederation of Zimbabwean Industries (CZI), capacity utilisation dropped in the last quarter of 2018 as foreign currency shortages intensified. The foodstuffs, tobacco and beverages, as well as wood and furniture sub-sectors had average capacity utilisation of above 50% for most of the year
