Official: Zimbabwe has just $217 left in the bank

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (R) and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (L) announce the conclusion of the constitution making process at State House on January 17, 2013, in Harare. / Getty Images

Zimbabwe's finance minister made a startling admission to reporters in Harare on Tuesday, according to multiple reports.

Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti in 2010.

/ Getty Images

"Last week when we paid civil servants there was $217 in government coffers," Finance Minister Tendai Biti said, according to The Telegraph. "The government finances are in paralysis state at the present moment."

That last admission was an understatement not because of his assessment of paralysis, but because he implied the problem is only a recent one.

The country that was once considered southern Africa's "breadbasket" for its fertile lands and rich mineral deposits has been experiencing slow but certain ruin due to more than three decades of largely despotic rule by President Robert Mugabe.

While he allegedly shares power with Morgan Tsvangirai as part of an international agreement stemming from a 2008 political crisis, few international observers believe Mugabe is not the man in charge.

Last year, Finance Minister Biti complained that government coffers had not received the promised $600 million in diamond revenues from a recently discovered rich deposit. Biti said that only one-fourth of that pledge has been received.

Overall, at least $2 billion worth of diamonds have been stolen from Zimbabwe's eastern diamond fields and have enriched Mugabe's ruling circle, international gem dealers, and criminals, according to an organization leading the campaign against conflict diamonds.

In addition to the lost mineral wealth, about a decade ago Mugabe began a program of seizing farm land from white land owners and handing it over to black tenants, many of whom are either cronies of his or are in his party. That policy has, to say the least, done little to improve Zimbabwe's rich agrarian heritage and economy.

The U.N. has said Zimbabwe will require at least $131 million in aid this year, the bulk for food assistance after a failed farming season left nearly 1.7 million people facing hunger, the Guardian reports.

Adding to the woes of the country is the fact that there are supposed to be elections this year. For most democratic states, that is good news -- a welcome chance to purge government of bad actors. However, if history is a guide, Zimbabwe will be beset with waves of violence, hunger, and the flight of thousands of refugees.

Writing in an op-ed for The Guardian, human rights lawyer Dewa Mavhinga said: "There is little point in holding elections that, in essence, will be without choice, and that can only result in another round of bloodshed and destruction."

[kellynner]

My family is from Southern Africa, and it's amazing to see what has happened in just this short time. My parents grew up in a Rhodesia/Zimbabwe that was extremely rich and fertile and had a very much more stable economy than the United States does at present. It's absolutely appalling to see what has happened over just around 25 years in Zimbabwe, and what continues to happen. My grandmother live there until 5 years ago, when we had to go and rescue her from her house, at that point people were carrying around BASKETS of currency. What is going on with Mugabe is basically criminal, yet, it continues to go on without much Media coverage or much attention from the international community. Such a waste.

[plumloko]

They are doing much better than the United States, at least they are in the plus!
Unlike us who are Trillions of Dollars in the hole.

[pedalit]

that's more than i got

[danyodan]

Not one of you all have a clue. The author of the piece puzzles about the cause and puts it all down to "Despotic Rule". Mugabe is a devout and outspoken Communist. He runs the economy as a Communist economy. That is the reason he and it is corrupt, filled with criminals, and bankrupt. Mugabe destroyed the jewel that was his country's agrarian economy. An economy that produced so much food, Zimbabwe fed all of its' people and exported the surplus. This brought millions in wealth into to country. No more. Mugabe got rid of the white farmers, stole their land and used it to pay off cronies and enrich his ancestral tribe. He gave the land to the politically correct incompetent. A great way to consolidate political power. A disaster if you want to feed a nation. now the UN says that they must give $131M to keep Zimbabwians from starving? 20 years ago that was not necessary. Such is the power and horror that is Communism.

[obicera1]

It's not about "communism". It is about a self serving criminal.

[Lagage11]

Sounds like the government of Zimbabwe is running the country without any deficits. As bad as having only $217 in the bank sounds, imagine if you OWED $16T instead.

[88Ronin]

You do not know what you are talking about.

[MSISTEPMINSTREL]

SEND A PENNY OR TWO TO AFRICA, FOLKS!

[MSISTEPMINSTREL]

MIAMI WILL J-O-I-N THEM NEXT WEEK IF THEY GO FORWARD WITH THESE ENDLESS "SPORTS-AND-STADIUM TOILET-FUND MONEY FLUSHING"...!

[TimeToRetire]

Good thing they drove all the white people off the farms.

[ugleyme]

I never thought of that. Trillions actually?

[88Ronin]

Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, was once prosperous and peaceful.

Today it is an example of what religion does to government.
A violent revolution, financed by THE METHODIST CHURCH, turned Rhodesia into a blood bath, lasting until today.

When I was a child, METHODIST CHURCHES, across America took two collections on the first Sunday of each month. One collection was for the usual domestic church activities. The second collection was called "THE MISSIONARY FUND". Years later, we discovered that "The Missionary Fund" went to buy arms, explosives and other weapons of death.

THE METHODIST CHURCH is responsible for the mess in their Zimbabwe and the deaths that have ruined the lives of residents and ruined the economy.

METHODISTS installed one of their own Bishops as the first head of state, from whom Robert Mugabe assumed power.

Zimbabwe is another example of how RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING, ESPECIALLY GOVERNMENT.