The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
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AFTER fleeing from troubled Zimbabwe over two years ago, Craig Scott and his family have now settled in Bramhall where they are running a cosy local pub.
The 51-year-old father of four, who owned a stud farm in Harare, Zimbabwe, decided to leave the country after Robert Mugabe’s government started to implement its controls.
He said: "We came to England with the minimum amount of money to build a new life, as it was only a matter of time before we were forced out.
"Even since we have left Zimbabwe, it has changed dramatically and the country won’t get better under Mugabe’s rule."
During the week Craig would work in Zambia while his wife Lynn managed their stud farm, then he would go back at the weekends to help out.
He said: "Stud farming was a very big business. Farming was the life blood of the country but this was being destroyed and skilled people were leaving or being forced out.
"Mugabe targeted the farmers and tried to control how we paid our wages by using bully boy tactics."
Since arriving in England, Craig and Lynn decided to pursue a career in the pub industry. Now they are the tenants at the Bromale Pub on West Park Road in Bramhall.
"My wife and I decided to get our pub qualifications, we have done relief management in a few different places, including Exeter and Burnage and have been at the Bromale since the end of March.
"It is hard work but it is also challenging and we like that," Craig said.
Even though Craig says he loves Zimbabwe, he did not feel it was best for his family to stay.
He sent his eldest son to Australia where he studied journalism and his daughter attended the Royal Northern School of Ballet in Manchester.
Now their two youngest children go to school locally.
Craig said: "In Africa if you don’t work, you starve, and we tell our children to make the most of their education so they can lead a good life.
"At this time there are no opportunities for them in Africa, so it was not worth staying in the country.
"It is a safe society here, everything is good apart from the weather. But if things do change in Zimbabwe then I would like to go back."
Zimbabwe anger over money protest
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Cryptic messages have appeared stamped on the notes calling for an end to the government of President Robert Mugabe. State media have published photographs of cash stamped with the captions "enough" and "get up, stand up". The government says it is a crime to deface notes and warns culprits they will face "the full wrath of the law".
Deputy Finance Minister David Chapfika said that he thought the slogans had been put there by members of the opposition. "We are still doing our investigations but the slogans appear to be synonymous with slogans used by certain characters in the opposition," the deputy minister told Reuters news agency. Last year an underground group known as "Enough is Enough" said it was responsible for putting similar messages on packets of condoms. They also quoted the late Bob Marley's popular protest song Get up, stand up for your rights. He performed the song at Zimbabwe's independence celebrations in 1980. |