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Movement For Democratic Change
Weekly Briefing Note
22 November 2002
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Nkanyiso Maqueda, Director of Information – 00263 91 248 570
BRUSSELS, Grace Kwinjeh – 0032 494 1 81 621
LONDON, James Littleton – 00 44 7771 501 401
Food Crisis
"We conclude that in the last four months, manipulation of food was directly related to elections. The threat of being deliberately starved by the Government if the opposition won votes was used to profoundly influence vulnerable rural voters in recent elections in Zimbabwe"
"In all cases of problematic food distribution, those implicated in politically manipulating access to food are Zanu-PF officials or supporters."
Zanu-PF appears to be maintaining a situation where there is too little food in the country, by controlling all sales and imports. Too little food is serving a dual purpose: it allows political control through controlling who accesses food; it facilitates the creation of a Zanu-PF dominated black market, thus enriching the Zanu-PF hierarchy."
"If it is not possible to increase non-partisan food supplies into the country, it is our opinion that starvation, and eventually death, will occur along party political lines in Zimbabwe."
These are the conclusions of the latest report (released 20/11/02) - ‘Vote Zanu-PF or Starve’ - by Physicians for Human Rights, Denmark (PHR-DK), an independent group of medical doctors whose goal is ‘to bring the skills of the medical profession to the protection of human rights’. The report covers the period from August to October 2002 and is based on the findings of interviews and extensive research conducted in Zimbabwe during this period.
On Monday, the World Food programme (WFP) said the distribution of food aid in the Insiza district of Matebeleland South was still suspended until further notice, contrary to reports in the state media that it would resume. The WFP originally withheld food aid following an incident in which Zanu-PF supporters seized food aid and distributed it to their supporters.
Last week, the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan slammed the politicisation of food aid in Zimbabwe. A statement read by his spokesman said:
"Those distributing food aid have an obligation to ensure that it is given to beneficiaries based on their needs and not upon political affiliation. [Kofi Anan] appeals to the government of Zimbabwe to hold to its commitment to ensure that political considerations do not affect food aid efforts within the country."
On Tuesday, the Famine and Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS-NET) reported that wheat production was the lowest since 1991 and only 62% of last year’s production. According to the report, Zimbabwean farmers had only secured 20% of the estimated funds needed to finance agricultural activities for the 2002 to 2003 production. It also highlighted chronic shortages of basic agricultural staples such as fertiliser.
According to the latest UN Humanitarian Situation Report, rural hospitals "have noted a marked increase" in the number of cases of malnutrition and pellagra, a disease caused by starvation. The WFP estimates that some six millions Zimbabweans – half the population – are facing a famine in the coming months.
Two further examples of the abuse of food aid documented this week:
- Harare executive mayor, Elias Mudzuri, was denied entry into Hatfield Municipal Hall where Zanu-PF supporters were selling maize from the Murehwa Milling Company. Inside, according to the Zimbabwe Standard, citizens were forced to form two queues: only once their Zanu-PF cards had been checked in the first were they allowed to proceed to the second to receive their allocation of maize. Mudzuri was quoted as saying that the police had refused to escort him to the hall.
- At Sunningdale Community Centre in Harare, baton and whip-wielding police officers kept hungry people at bay. Entry to the Centre to buy maize-meal was granted only to those in possession of a Zanu-PF card.
Inquest Demanded by Jongwe Family
Relatives of the late Learnmore Jongwe, former MP for Kuwadzana and MDC spokesman, last week demanded an inquest into his death. A government pathologist concluded that Jongwe had died from chloroquine poisoning. Referring to this and the claim that the chloroquine had been provided by a relative of Jongwe’s, his sister said:
"Food …is subjected to inspections so that nothing illegal is smuggled through. Visitors are even made to taste the food they bring to ensure they won’t harm prisoners. It is the guards who were the link between the outside world and Learnmore and who should be the first stop of any investigation."
Economy
Economist Responds to Budget
Economist Tony Hawkins this week criticised the government’s decision to freeze prices for six months on a number of staple products. He warned that the freezes would create shortages and an increase in smuggling. Referring to a similar move by the government in October 2001, he said: "It did nothing except create shortages. Price controls meant that goods were either not being produced [because manufacturers were not recouping cosrs], goods were sold on the black market at higher prices, or they were being sold over the border."
Mining Industry Braced for ‘Widespread Closures’ next year
According to a mining industry spokesman, new central bank exchange controls will contribute to the closure of mining firms next year. Referring to the government’s recent decision to increase the proportion of company export earnings that must be lodged with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe from 40% to 50%, the spokesman said:"Most mining houses will be forced to close because our revenue comes from the exports that we use to pay our bills and wages with."
More than 40 mining firms have closed in the past three years because of Zimbabwe’s harsh economic climate, forcing 4,500 workers into unemployment. [Source: The Financial Gazette]
Doctors and Nurses Join the Exodus of Professionals from Zimbabwe
In a surprisingly frank admission, Hubert Murerwa, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, revealed in his 2003 budget speech last week that a total of 2,297 doctors and nurses had left Zimbabwe in the first nine months of this year. Acknowledging that the exodus of civil servants had been brought about by low pay, he said that "[it] jeopardises our medium-to-long term growth prospects".
According to a report in The Daily News, ‘there are only 742 doctors and 7,133 nurses still working in government institutions in Zimbabwe, against a desirable number of 1,200 and 12,000 respectively’.
General News
Magistrate Refuses to Remand MDC Parliamentarians
A Harare magistrate last weekend refused to remand in custody two MDC parliamentarians accused of abusing the Parliamentary Vehicle Procurement Scheme, stating that the state had failed to demonstrate why she should do so. The ruling provoked an angry response from Minister of State for Information and Publicity, Jonathan Moyo, who then accused the Attorney General’s office of failing to competently represent the state in cases involving the opposition party.
Registrar-General Ordered to Move Ballots to Harare
The High Court this week gave Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede three days to find a place in Harare for the safe-keeping of voting materials used during the disputed presidential election in March. Mudede had previously attempted to get court permission to destroy the ballot papers, claiming the boxes containing them were required for the local elections in September. The High Court’s ruling follows an application by Morgan Tsvangirai for the boot papers to be preserved in order substantiate the MDC’s claim of massive electoral fraud in the presidential elections.
Nobel Prize Laureate Berates Mugabe
Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize laureate and campaigner for human rights, last week expressed his distaste for Mugabe and his illegitimate regime. Speaking on an online discussion forum hosted by The Black World Today, a US-based African American website, he accused Mugabe of "state thuggery" and of conducting an "undefined war of attrition against his own people". Said Soyinka:
"[Mugabe] has resorted to the most blatant time-dishonoured African dictators who fail to understand that people must be led to dignity, not dragged on their knees along the pathway to social transformation."
Church Leaders Back Pius Ncube
Senior members of the clergy in an around Matebeleland this week issued a statement in support of Bishop Pius Ncube, who recently brought the world’s attention to the government’s policy of starving opposition supporters in order to win their support in local elections. The statement, which was signed by seven church leaders, said:
"We, the church leaders, fully support Archbishop Pius Ncube’s statement of 6th November 2002. We hear the cries of the suffering, the harassed and starving people of our country for help…We call the government to repentance and a change of heart…and to return to the path of justice, peace and governance."
Zimbabwe’s Request to Sell Ivory Rejected
Citing concern that Zimbabwe could not properly monitor sales due to corruption and political instability, delegates at the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) this week rejected Zimbabwe’s request to sell ivory currently held in stockpiles. They did, however, grant permission to South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
International
South African Protest
Zimbabwean expatriates and South African sympathisers staged a demonstration this week in Pretoria to urge President Mbeki to ‘condemn the behaviour of Mugabe’. The demonstrators held placards inviting drivers to "hoot if you think Mugabe must taken action against Mugabe". They reported overwhelming support from passing motorists. Said one:
"We are not asking for any military or aggressive action against our country, or for one drop of South African blood to be shed to liberate Zimbabwe. We want President Mbeki to condemn the behaviour of Mugabe."
US State Department Expresses ‘Outrage’ Over Beating of Embassy Staff
Diplomatic relations between the US and Zimbabwean governments further deteriorated this week after an employee of the American embassy in Harare was beaten by war veterans. The employee was accompanying a US diplomat and British United Nations official on a visit to a farm compound outside Harare to assess hunger conditions. The embassy employee and a second Zimbabwean accompanying the group were severely beaten, while their vehicle was looted of official items. The US diplomat reported that the police ignored telephone calls for help. Responding to the incident, the US government said that it was "symptomatic of the lawlessness that has affected Zimbabwe…It is the same sort of intimidation and violence suffered by thousands of Zimbabweans since the rule of law was effectively suspended."
State media accused the group of staging a scramble for food amongst "alleged displaced" farm workers. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo dismissed the charge of lawlessness as "quite preposterous", going on to add "there are no displaced farm workers in Zimbabwe and the embassy knows that".
Reliable Zimbabwean sources estimate that at least 800,000 farm workers and dependents have been made homeless and destitute as a result of Zanu-PF’s irresponsible and illegal land reform programme
Amnesty International Condemns Harassment of Human Rights Defenders
In a press release this week, the human rights group Amnesty International called upon the Zimbabwean government to respect the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and to "immediately end its intimidation and harassment of human rights organizations and other human rights defenders". Referring to Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, July Moyo’s threat to close down the offices of the distinguished human rights group Amani Trust, Amnesty International said "Amani Trust appears to have been specifically targeted by the government because of its meticulous documentation of human rights abuses".
END
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