Photo: Reuters By: Brianna Quinonez Two years ago, from November 14-21, in 2017, military tanks and soldiers dressed in uniform marched to the Zimbabwean capital of Harare. Their intention: to oust President Robert Mugabe out of power. According to BBC, Robert Mugabe was arrested when he was about 40 years old after criticizing the government of Rhodesia, which is a part of modern-day Zimbabwe. While serving his prison sentence, he was not only a founding member, but was elected President of an organization called the Zimbabwe African National Union, or ZANU, for short. After being released from prison, Mugabe helped convert the unorganized state into a republic and won its first republic election in 1980. He is considered to be one of the founding fathers of Zimbabwe but, apparently, that did not have any value, as he was kicked out of office. Mugabe was succeeded by Emerson Mnangagwa. With a new president in office, new policies and problems were under way. One of the major issues that have been met with protests and criticism recently is dealing with inflation and the economic crisis. According to the Guardian, inflation had soared to 175% in the beginning of the year and now rests at 300%, which is the highest in the world. Even necessities such as food and medicine have grown to be scarce items. Fuel, which is a necessary energy source, has quadrupled in price since the beginning of 2019. Obert Masaraure, who is a leader of an organization that represents and speaks on behalf of rural teachers, has stated that the average monthly salary is about $31 USD. It is often stated that with the average family consisting of 4 members, the monthly salary is barely enough to provide basic ingredients like flour and cooking oil. This has often led to families with an increase in hunger until the next paycheck comes around. If man-made problems weren’t enough, Zimbabwe is also dealing with a drought. According to Aljazeera, a severe drought has not only led to unsuccessful fields of maize, but power outages as well. Zimbabwe is not in its strongest state right now, but the current president will hopefully do his best to turn things around for not only the country, but for its people.
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