Living standards are declining equally rapidly. The economy was stagnant in 1999 and is expected to contract by two percent this year. The latest calamity is the shortage of fuel. Zimbabwe no longer has the foreign currency to import adequate amounts of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene. Since early December the country has been operating at 50 percent of ordinary consumption.
Motorists wait for five or six hours to get half a tank of fuel.
Township residents wait in equally long lines for kerosene to cook their food. So, finally, Zimbabwe's citizens are rising up. Mugabe is openly reviled in the cities, and support for him is dwindling even in Zimbabwe's rural areas, his traditional base. A Gallup International Poll conducted in February found that a full 65 percent of Zimbabweans believed Mugabe should resign. And, while Mugabe himself is not up for reelection until 2002, parliamentary elections are due soon.