agricultural fair in Harare

The formerly huge and well-known (very colonial) agricultural fair in Harare has lost a lot. It is comparingly small and not interesting.
However police and riot control are omnipresent, and so are batons.
and headlines like: stop power cuts = stop vandalism
...or the one on the left






From Associated Press, 30 August:

Price control authorities ban cattle auction at Zimbabwe agriculture showcase

Angus Shaw

Harare - Price control authorities banned a public livestock auction at Zimbabwe's main agriculture show Thursday, fearing it would make a mockery of price controls on beef that have forced meat off the shelves across the country, show officials and farmers said. Farmers expected to get the market value of at least double the government's price on commercial prime beef per kilogram and up to five times the fixed price on peasant-raised cows. The government had waived its fixed price on cattle for the long-awaited auction of about 160 animals, which was widely publicized in state media as one of the main attractions of the annual Harare Agricultural Show. Show officials said they were notified at the last minute the auction would not be allowed to go ahead. Most of the cattle were from peasant farms within about 100 kilometers, or 60 miles, of the showground arena.