With Inflation at 355,000%, Ghoulish Mugabe Attends Food Summit

I'm not the only one who finds this obscene. A man who has presided over the systematic starvation of his people attends a food summit?

Hey, why not just hold the meeting in North Korea?

IT is obscene for Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to be attending a food crisis summit in Rome, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.

Mr Mugabe has flown to Rome for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation food security summit starting this week.

It is the first time the 84-year-old has left Zimbabwe, which was once regarded as the bread basket of Africa, since losing the first round of a presidential election in March.

He is banned from all travel to the European Union, except for UN forums.

Mr Smith said it was not right for Mr Mugabe to be at the summit.

"Frankly I regard that as obscene," he told reporters in perth.

"This is the person who has presided over the starvation of his people.

"This is the person who has used food aid in a politically motivated way.

"So Robert Mugabe turning up to a conference dealing with food security or food issues is in my view, frankly obscene."

Meanwhile, inflation in the devastated Zimbabwe is now at 355,000%. That is not a typo.

Zimbabwe is battling the world's highest inflation rate, currently at 355,000 percent. The high inflation rate has ravaged the value of any new notes within just a few weeks, a trend that has caused frequent cash shortages. The Zimbabwean dollar is currently trading at Z$650 million to the $1 USD; barely two weeks ago, it was at Z$250 million to $1 USD.

The new Z$500 million note can hardly buy a meal at the cheapest food outlet as prices start at Z$700 million and yet a farmer can buy a second-hand refrigerator with a Z$50 billion Agro Cheque.