1 November 2008
The only people who do not appear to appreciate the extent of nationwide starvation are the leadership of Zanu PF.
That is why there is incessant bombardment of obscene announcements of beasts to be slaughtered, how many tonnes of maize-meal, rice, flour, sugar, tea, eggs and sausages will be consumed at the party's annual congress scheduled for Bindura in December.
These people have no sense of shame. They are completely out of touch.
People are starving and the only ones unaware of this are Zanu PF members.
Just to amplify the point, villagers throughout the provinces are being asked to contribute to the hosting of Zanu PF's congress. The extent of denial of reality in the party defies narrative.
It is this denialism that leads them to go on national radio and television to announce that end of year examinations are proceeding without problems when in some cases children have been sharing exam papers; that universities are reopening for the first semester of the 2008/2009 academic year when the institutions' staff have just stopped short of taking to the street to protest conditions; and that hospitals have not closed down even when it is evident to the sick visiting the health facilities that there are no resources or staff reporting for work because they can't afford transport.
Local and international humanitarian organisations have since the ban on activities of non-governmental organisations on June 4 this year warned of a major humanitarian crisis. The government has done nothing to demonstrate a sense of urgency in reversing the effects of its June directive.
Villagers are dying because of inadequate food, while the situation in urban areas has been worsened by the cholera epidemic -- itself a result of government's neglect which resulted from its stubborn refusal to heed warnings about commandeering the water and sewage treatment responsibilities of local authorities and handing them to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority.
Organisations such as the NGO Forum and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights could assist relatives of people dying from cholera to sue Zinwa and the government for negligence which has caused the unnecessary loss of lives. Maybe the government and Zanu PF could then begin to put people first.
After more than 20 recorded deaths from cholera and promises that the government "was doing everything in its power" to ensure no further lives were lost, last week residents of Ward 14 in Kambuzuma, who were trying to do something to prevent the spread of cholera in their area after several reported cholera-related deaths, woke up to teargas and arrests. So much for political dialogue and power-sharing!
Instead of diverting food, which should be directed to starving people in the villages and many urban areas, transport and scarce fuel, Zanu PF should be mobilising the transport to be used by organisations such as World Food Programme, World Vision, Care and others to transport food to the needy in order to stop more Zimbabweans from starving to death.
Zanu PF can for once demonstrate that it puts people first, not only in its slogans but in everyday practice by scrapping its congress because current hardships render such a gathering highly inappropriate and offensive to the majority of Zimbabweans for whom starvation is a looming reality.
It would be outrageous to feast for days in Bindura while the majority of the people can hardly afford to provide a day's meal for their families.
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mari makazoiwana kupi? hadziziridzo mari dzema Donor idzi? Vanhu vandityisa ini chirumhazu!! Nzara hamiwone iyi? Mbewu, fertiliser etc zvirikudiwa but noone in Zanu Pf cares.
Maybe ZANU-PF/Mugabe can use the 7.3 MILLION DOLLARS of Foreign NGO money they stole from the RBZ to feed "it's" congress (small "c").
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/03/africa/zim.php
Small wonder indeed that NGO's cannot provide the food and aid they are intended to bring the suffering people of Zimbabwe when they steal foreign exchange from the very organizations they are counting on to dig themselves out of the pit of misery they have created!