Zimbabwe: The African Contradiction
Western countries and human rights organizations have been spitting blood by the appointment of Zimbabwe as Africa’s choice to chair the UN commission on sustainable development. This is seen as direct contraction as Zimbabwe’s track record of having left 700,000 of its citizens without accommodation by bulldozing their homes, caused millions more to starve after violent land seizures.
In January, the industry’s World Diamond Council said it received reports that diamonds in Zimbabwe were being smuggled into neighboring South Africa, where they were being certified as legitimate. The charge is still being investigated.
The council said River Ranch was among the smuggling sites named in the report. River Ranch denied the accusations and a lawyer for the group said no diamonds had even been mined. Illegal mining is rising in Zimbabwe as people grapple with an economic crisis that has seen inflation rise to the highest in the world, and poverty levels soar.
Meanwhile hundreds of prisoners are dying of starvation in Zimbabwe jails because the authorities have no money to feed them. Prisoners are given just one meal a day, consisting of a few cabbage leaves, occasionally served with sadza (corn meal). The lack of nutrition has fuelled widespread tuberculosis and an outbreak of pellagra, a disease related to food deficiency from which many have died. This particularly affects female prisoners, some of whom have babies. They have no sanitary wear and their babies do not receive any supplementary food. The prison deaths have grown so bad that the prison authorities have been forced to open their own mortuary.
The Zimbabwe Government says the planting of this year’s wheat crop is well behind target and the season ends in two weeks’ time. This has been a direct result of the government’s chaotic seizure of white-owned farms which began seven years ago. The government blames shortages of fuel and fertiliser, but disturbances are still reported on commercial farms. According to Zimbabwean officials, farmers have only planted 10% of the expected winter wheat crop.
Zimbabwe faces a huge maize deficit this year, making it dependent upon imported food, and food aid for the most vulnerable. The government had already declared 2007 “a drought year”. Teams from the United Nations are currently making a more detailed assessment. A report in the government controlled newspaper - The Herald - says Zimbabwe’s sugar industry is also experiencing problems, including industrial action by workers.
An official of the governing Zanu-PF party says he is concerned about a nationwide sugar shortage. Last week, households in Zimbabwe were told they would be limited to four hours power supply a day in a move designed to support the country’s wheat farmers who need power to irrigate their crops. The monthly rate of inflation rose to 2,200% in March, the highest in the world. This has led to widespread shortages of fuel and food.
(Contributed)
