Sunday, November 30, 2008

Mugabe Regime Arrests Soldiers Amid Fears Of Pay Revolt

Robert Mugabe is said to be fearful of an army revolt after soldiers went on the rampage in Harare, unable to withdraw money from banks in the city Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

From The Telegraph:

President Robert Mugabe's regime has begun locking up members of his armed forces amid fears that anger over low pay could spark a revolt by the army.

Restrictions on the amount of cash that can be withdrawn from the country's banks amid an economic crisis and hyperinflation mean that soldiers, like the rest of the population, can only take out the equivalent of 50 pence a day - enough to buy a single banana.

Fourteen soldiers were arrested this week after scores went on the rampage in the capital Harare and the middle class suburb of Braeside, attacking foreign currency dealers with batons.

The soldiers had earlier swarmed into a city centre bank demanding more than the allocated maximum withdrawal but neither it nor any commercial banks, including Britain's Standard Chartered and Barclays, have enough cash to placate the daily queues outside.

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