Zimbabwe -- Food aid prolongs nation's suffering

Financial Gazette ^ | August 1, 2002

[Clive]

ZIMBABWEANS, many of whom are threatened with starvation, are undoubtedly grateful for the food aid that is being given to them by several foreign governments.

Unfortunately, the reality is that the aid is perpetuating and prolonging the wider suffering of Zimbabweans by giving them a false sense of food security when they should be seriously confronting the causes of their starvation in a rich farming land.

As long as the food handouts continue to come in, many in Zimbabwe and especially the government will not bother to examine why the country has sunk to this pathetic level, let alone to take corrective action.

The government's defiant seizure of productive commercial farms and the occupation of most of the farms by its supporters have been the main catalysts of the famine, pushing down output of the staple maize by as much as 60 percent last season.

No doubt, the drought which hit southern Africa only worsened the situation.

But let no one shy away from the undeniable fact that it is the government’s own actions, more than anything else, which have triggered the current suffering of its own citizens.

It follows therefore that the government and it alone must take action to correct its irresponsible policies which have caused the famine if the man-made tragedy is to be avoided in future.

Left to its own devices and with the foreign food aid coming in, the government is predictably behaving as if it is business as usual and is even refusing to acknowledge its role in the country’s worst humanitarian disaster.

For Zimbabweans, the food aid gives them false comfort that all is well, shielding them from the harsh reality that they must take their destiny into their hands in the face of an administration that seems determined to do everything and anything that can make their lives as unbearable as is possible.

Some commentators are rightly arguing that, unfortunate as this might be, a cessation of foreign food aid would not only allow Zimbabweans to appreciate their deep-seated suffering but also ensure that the government takes responsibility for its actions.

In other words, the government must sort out its mess without any foreign food aid and Zimbabweans must hold the administration fully accountable for their misery.

But the issue of food aid, aside from promoting an unsustainable culture of dependency, goes far deeper than this in crisis-weary Zimbabwe.

Plausible media reports continue to filter out from the countryside that some elements of the ruling ZANU PF party, on top of disrupting farming in many parts of Zimbabwe and causing the current hunger, are now using food aid as a political weapon.

These elements are denying food aid to those they suspect to be opposition members, clearly one of the worst human rights abuses and a serious challenge to the conscience of those foreign governments whose taxpayers’ money has been used to buy the food.

Although the government denies using food aid as a political tool, one ZANU PF official was quoted in the media two weeks ago as telling villagers in Matabeleland that those who continued to vote for the opposition should not run to the government in search of food relief because they were supporting the country’s enemies.

Surely the government, however much it may hate the fact that the MDC is a reality, must take care of the interests of all Zimbabweans and not just those of its supporters.

The food aid - this includes that bought by the government using hard-earned taxpayers’ funds - must be given to all who need it without any discrimination whatsoever.

Otherwise Zimbabweans will feel justified in refusing to pay taxes from which the food aid money is siphoned if the food is only meant for ZANU PF members. There can be no two ways about this.

[Clive]

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[razorback-bert]

bump

[Jonathon Spectre]

Mass starvation: The first stage of communism.

[mdittmar]

But let no one shy away from the undeniable fact that it is the government’s own actions, more than anything else, which have triggered the current suffering of its own citizens.

Wow,that's harsh, the Financial Gazette may win a South African version of the Pulitzer prize for this one;)

[mgstarr]

A downward spiral since they forced out Ian Smith.

The chickens come home to roost..... or they would if Mugabe hadn't had them shot.

[Travis McGee]

Better to fight now while there is strength, before the nation sinks to North Korean levels.

[backhoe]

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