Government-to-government aid goes into the coffers of the illegitimate Mugabe regime, which stole the 2000 general election and the 2002 presidential election through a variety of corrupt practices, large-scale violence and intimidation and the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters. It baffles me why foreign governments continue to support a regime that, for the past five years, has intensified the oppression of its own citizens – denying them all basic freedoms, murdering many and sanctioning the torture, beatings and rape of thousands in a campaign of terror against any political opposition.
In addition to this, the Mugabe government’s ruinous policies and un-checked corruption have reduced the once vibrant economy to tatters and forced millions to leave the country or sink into abject poverty. Despite his government’s impecunious state and the untold suffering of millions of starving Zimbabweans, Mugabe continues to implement such policies. Just this month he announced an increase in his executive.
In the last election Zanu (PF) won 62 of the 120 contested seats, many of them fraudulently. There are now no less than 48 people at the head of the Zanu (PF) gravy train – 30 full cabinet ministers (including the President and his deputy), 10 governors (with the rank of full minister) and eight deputy ministers.
This is utterly ridiculous for an impoverished country with a population of less than 12 million, of whom three million are in self-imposed exile around the world. By contrast, the Netherlands, a prosperous and developed nation of 16 million, has a mere 17 ministers, including the Prime Minister and his two deputies, and nine state secretaries – 26 in total. That’s what I call a lean, mean operation.
These 48 privileged Zimbabweans are entitled to government luxury vehicles, drivers, body guards, police guards at home, free petrol, free vehicle servicing, housing allowances and a host of other perks. All these state-financed advantages will obviously be used by Zanu (PF) during the campaigning for the 2005 general election, effectively tilting the playing field in its favour.
Not only will the opposition have to finance all its own campaigning costs, but political opponents can expect a very rough ride indeed, including arbitrary arrests and torture at the hands of the partisan police force. Of the 57 opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members of Parliament elected in 2000, 50 have been arrested and locked up on a series of trumped-up charges.
Several of them have been tortured, one has died in custody under mysterious circumstances, another has died recently from injuries suffered when he was captured and tortured by ruling party thugs, and two have fled the country, fearing for their lives. Not one has been convicted in a court of law.
Even food aid intended for the starving people of Zimbabwe is used as a political weapon. The only way for foreign governments to help the really needy people is through NGO’s who, despite state interference, still manage to do a good job on the ground.
All columns by Wilf Mbanga
| Wilf Mbanga, one of the founders of the independent Zimbabwean daily newspaper "The Daily News", is currently living in Tilburg, the Netherlands. He writes about the differences between Tilburg and Harare. His column is printed weekly in "Het Brabants Dagblad". |
