Due to an acute shortage of foreign currency in the 1990's, the Zimbabwean government failed to secure spare parts for the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and Harare lost nearly 1.5 billion dollars worth of equipment during its four-year campaign in the Congo. When the ZNA entered the conflict in 1998 with an assortment of armored vehicles, the equipment quickly broke down and had to be abandoned, since it is extremely difficult to recover vehicles scattered in Congo's thick forests. This situation has left the ZNA ill-prepared to defend the country in the event of war and the finance minister has allocated $1,423,380,000 to the ministry of defense - at a time when Zimbabwe's population stands on the edge of starvation. - Adam Geibel