"Since Mugabe Fell, Things Have Changed - For The Worse"
Zimbabweans who spoke to the Epoch Times conceded that since the fall of former President Robert Mugabe in 2017, things have indeed changed – for worse.
A shoe vendor, Dhobha Moyowatidhi, who spoke to the publication had this to say:
We thought after the end of former President Robert Mugabe’s rule, we would have someone with the people at heart and who can listen to our grievances.
That’s why I was one of the many people who went into the streets to demonstrate that he goes.
Now, less than two years later, I need $7 to come to the central business district, [and] a loaf of bread now costs $5—that is, if it is available.
As a Zimbabwean, I was looking forward to a unity government, as were the indications from both the Movement for Democratic Change and the ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front [ZANU-PF], as we thought they were in one accord, but little did we know things will change for the worse.
Life is hard and the people who are buying from us [in U.S. dollars] are being paid in the local currency, yet they have not received any pay increase.
Another citizen who spoke to Epoch Times is 29-year-old Godfrey Chitova, a father of one.
Chitova lost his job as a bus driver last year after the commuter vehicle he was driving started breaking down, forcing the owner to sell it. He said:
Now, I come to the CBD once a week and survive through manning a bus rank at Fourth Street, getting RTGS$30 for the whole day.
This is hard and I can’t live like this as it is hand-to-mouth. By the time I go back to the [bus] rank, I am in arrears.
Even getting a job at a construction company would help, as the money I’m getting loses value every day and the prices of basic commodities continue to go up every day.
… The government should listen to people and give young people the opportunity to take the country forward.
Mugabe was ousted in November 2017 following a military-backed popular coup. He was replaced by his former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
