TIMES are so hard in Zimbabwe that some believe the government is within a hair’s breadth of falling (the increasingly frail, but seemingly immortal President Robert Mugabe sometimes falls, but not yet from power).
To save foreign currency, the government in Harare has issued a new list of banned imports including beauty products and the popular “weave” — synthetic or human hair used for braiding.
Above all else, the weave ban has caused much anger in Zimbabwe, with some even suggesting the move could be the final straw that will bring the government to its knees. Other banned imports include jam, mayonnaise, wardrobes and wheelbarrows, according to a news report, which are part of a list that is as varied as it appears arbitrary.
With the Mugabe government struggling to pay even soldiers and police officers their salaries, which is always risky even in stable democracies, the old dictator may really be in a jam this time.
While his government continues to be upbraided, Mugabe may become the first head of state to lose power because of an imported hair product.
