Death by Starvation in Zimbabwe 'amounts to genocide'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Death by Starvation in Zimbabwe 'amounts to genocide'*
By Sebastien Berger in Bulawayo
Last Updated: 3:58am BST 21/08/2007
Zimbabweans are starving to death on a scale equivalent to genocide, a
top opposition MP claimed yesterday.
Four million people will need food aid by the end of the year, the World
Food Programme said earlier this month, as President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF government oversees the fastest-shrinking economy in the world.
David Coltart, a senior member of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, said there was "no doubt" Zimbabweans were already starving to
death.
"Arguably this is the world's greatest humanitarian crisis," he told The
Daily Telegraph. "Zimbabwe has the lowest life expectancy in the world:
34 for women and 37 for men."
Mr Mugabe's mismanagement, which has also seen basic supplies disappear
from shop shelves after it imposed price controls, made him culpable, he
said.
"To use a legal term, I would say this amounts to genocide with
constructive intent. In terms of a complete disregard for the plight of
people, not caring whether there is wholesale loss of life, it amounts
to genocide."
Some observers believe that an internal coup in Mr Mugabe's divided
Zanu-PF party is the best, if not only, hope for change. But Mr Coltart,
a lawyer and the MP for Bulawayo South, said: "I don't believe you can
predict he will be gone in six months. It has been a mistake many have
predicted in the past.
"If Zanu-PF are happy with the notion of a vastly reduced economy with a
powerful ruling elite living in a sea of poverty, then it is sustainable.
There are several reasons Mr Mugabe has survived for so long. Few
African leaders are prepared to openly condemn him despite the fact
that, as Mr Coltart pointed out, "the overwhelming majority of the
people who are dying as a result of the regime's policies are black
Africans".
Such sentiments were echoed by Kofi Annan, the former UN
secretary-general, last month. "Africans must guard against a
pernicious, self-destructive form of racism that unites citizens to rise
up and expel tyrannical rulers who are white, but to excuse tyrannical
rulers who are black," he said.
Zanu-PF officials never miss an opportunity to denounce what they call
the West's "illegal sanctions", blaming them for the country's turmoil -
even though they only amount to a visa ban and asset freezes on named
individuals.
"They have convinced Africa that Zimbabwe's battle is Africa's battle -
that this is about race and land and imperialism," said Mr Coltart, 49.
The situation was exemplified by last week's Southern African
Development Community summit in Zambia, where Mr Mugabe was welcomed
with thunderous applause. The meeting discussed a rescue package for the
country, and could not agree on conditions to attach to it. It made no
criticism of his rule.
Internally, too, Mr Mugabe's position is reinforced by historical and
geographical factors. "This country has been through two civil wars in
living memory and most people will do almost anything to avoid another,"
said Mr Coltart.
Zimbabwe has "safety valves" in South Africa and Botswana, he added.
"Young people can vent their anger by going south. So you don't have the
people who would be the vanguard of any uprising."
But probably the main factor in Mr Mugabe's survival is, ironically, the
very people who have fled his rule. With unemployment around 80 per
cent, by some estimates three-quarters of Zimbabweans earning a living
are doing so abroad, and their families survive on the money they send home.
The funds also support the remains of the economy. Opposition figures
say the remittances help the government survive, but do not condemn
those sending money.
"They have no choice," said Mr Coltart. "Only a dreadful choice between
wanting the regime gone and keeping their families alive."