What will the Zimbabwean Christmas be like in 2019?

Christmas promises to be a gloomy affair this year owing to the high cost of living. Most people have bemoaned the shocking price increases of basic commodities such as rice,cooking oil,sugar,meat and mealie meal. Prices have gone further up as Christmas day fast approaches. What exactly will Christmas celebrations comprise of this year. Back in the days people would board buses and spend the day in their rural homes. Rice,chicken, cakes and bread with jam would be the order of the day. A beast could even be slaughtered to celebrate such an important day. This was the day that people wore their Sunday best and put on their best shoes.

Sadly, gone are such days and the Christmas hype remains just but a memory for most. Transport costs to the rural areas have sharply risen due to the continued increase in the price of fuel. A lot of people cannot even afford to buy basic food let alone luxuries such as meat and bread. Christmas indeed promises to be a gloomy affair in 2019.

Those who would have wanted to travel to neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Botswana face the headache of procuring passports. Passports are no longer easy to aquire and one has to join long queues and wait for months to get a three day passport. As if these woes are not enough for the ordinary Zimbabwean citizen, the issue of loadshedding will be another hurdle in terms of celebrations this year.

Imagine a Christmas day without electricity. Cooking meals on open fire and for the lucky ones maybe on a has stove. Talk of Christmas presents and you will see the sad reactions from the majority. Parents are already saving up for the January school opening with schools having increased their fees to alarming rates. Presents are therefore not a priority this Christmas. Indeed 2019 will be one of the worst Christmas days of our time.