Mugabe's mansion

The ultimate, overarching corrupt act by the individuals who govern this country is to use their political power to deprive Zimbabweans of their right to access food. It is a calculated evil, cynically done in full knowledge of the consequences for those who will suffer and die. But within this over-arching corruption of policy there exist many petty, private acts of corruption intended to benefit not ZANU PF, but the individuals who perform them.

Wherever there is an inadequate supply of any essential product, there will always be those prepared to take advantage of other people's needs. This now occurs in Zimbabwe with such sickening frequency, at every stage of the process of securing the food supply, that one wonders if there is any morality remaining in the country. Private corruption occurs in the production of food through privileged access to inputs - to land, irrigation equipment, capital, seed, fertilizer, draft power and transport. It occurs again in the marketing of food produce to wholesale suppliers, the withholding of food stocks to induce price rises, and the retail selling through favoured individuals. At every step it favours the already privileged and the party faithful, putting unearned millions into their pockets, while forcing the ordinary person, the previously much-vaunted "povo", who have now been forgotten, to exhaust their meagre resources to acquire the bare minimum or if they have none, to starve to death.

Food production by wealthy white commercial farmers has all but ceased. In their place we were promised that the landless thousands would grow our food, supplemented by reinvigorated communal farmers whose lands would be decongested. But instead we find it is the rich and powerful, who already had well-paying jobs or ran their own businesses, who have started producing on farms they have acquired using their political and sometimes military muscle. Not only have they seized the land and stolen much of the equipment on it, they have also appropriated finance capital, seed, fertilizer and draught power intended for the small-scale settlers. Those "povo" and even war vets who managed initially to acquire land have been unable to access the inputs necessary to become productive. Some are now being driven off the land, often again for the benefit of the already wealthy.

But what is even more shocking, if it is still possible to be shocked in Zimbabwe, is that frequently those privileged "A2 farmers" have conspired to make themselves even richer by secretly exporting produce which is desperately needed in Zimbabwe. In 2003 we discovered maize being exported by powerful individuals to get foreign currency at the same time that donors were bringing food into the country to feed the starving. In 2004 there are others who were given free assistance and contracted by SeedCo to produce badly needed seed maize. Instead of delivering the product back to Seed Co, they have secretly exported it. Some of these are senior government officials, ministers, MPs, even a judge, who know full well the importance of fulfilling a contract, and the urgency of promoting the recovery of food production in Zimbabwe. But will they be brought to account? Hardly. Under this regime they are untouchable, protected by the police and the judiciary who are themselves complicit.

And finally we have had corruption at distribution. In 2002 and 2003 when the only sure supply of maize and mealie meal was the black market, supplies were delivered to the homes of senior party officials, ministers, Politburo members and ZANU PF councillors. Invariably these individuals sold at black market prices, making their own tidy profits while the people sweated to eke out a pathetic existence. Throughout the country we have repeatedly seen maize delivered only to certain compliant millers, mealie meal made available only to shops owned by ZANU PF supporters, and free handouts to those prepared to vote for the ruling party.

And so, those who gave us Willowgate, the Government Housing Loan scam and the looting of the War Victims Compensation Fund, have now given us the Great Food Robbery. Corruption is robbery; it is perpetrated by governments and it is perpetrated by individuals protected by governments. And it spells disaster for the people of Zimbabwe.

Day 6: 31st December 2004
The article Sokwanele features tomorrow provides a typical account of a middle class pensioner's existance in Zimbabwe today. As awful as Ida's experience is, things are much worse for lower income pensioners.