December 12

Ecocash is still down.

I go to Fedex to buy the package for Ellie's permanent residency application which has to be sent to Harare.  After filling in all my details, the lady dealing with me discovers the swipe machine has died and, as there is a power cut, it cannot be recharged.  I go to another Fedex branch where, thankfully, there is electricity.

I then go back to Immigration with the new letter and the package and put in the application.  While I am there, a very flamboyant Zimbabwean man with an open-necked shirt and a gold chain jokes with the immigration officer.  He has a slightly British accent and is flashing a British passport around, laughing about the fact that he has to pay in US dollars to renew his stay in Zimbabwe when the use of US dollars is actually banned.  I wonder how long it took him to get a British passport.  I have only just got citizenship after 45 years and I was told that I must promise not to take advantage of the situation by attempting to vote. 'We will enter it on our records that you are still not allowed to vote.' Anyone who thinks the UK is tough on immigration needs to come to Africa.

Ellie's application costs US$100.  Her new British passport cost less than the residencystamp/sticker/whatever you want to call it. This is an incredible amount of money and when her passport runs out in five years' time, it will have to be paid again.  The residency stamp used to be free.  If we were to leave Zimbabwe for more than a year, we would lose our residency and would have to reapply at a cost of US$500 each. What are the perks of staying here any longer?