Food is short in Inzisa

“If you put my name they will kill me”, said my informant, a rake-thin lady who wore a permanently anxious expression on her wizened face. So we agreed I would tell her story under a pseudonym and in the telling I would be careful not to relay any particular details that might assist the CIO to identify her (The Central Intelligence Organization being Zimbabwe's much feared spy agency, the equivalent of Apartheid South Africa's BOSS or Bureau of State Security). The fear in her voice was palpable which made the bravery of my informant – let's call her Mai Mpofu – all the more remarkable in being willing to talk to anyone.

Mai Mpofu is a widow who lives near Avoca in the Insiza constituency of ZANU PF member of parliament, alias war lord, Andrew Langa. She is unemployed and has no regular income, which would make her task in providing for her five children in this dirt poor part of rural Matabeleland extremely difficult at the best of times. Emphatically these are not the best of times. On the contrary the area has not seen a good harvest since 1996, and the already stretched food supply has declined further over the last three years in the wake of Robert Mugabe's disasterous land reform programme. To say therefore that for Mai Mpofu and others like her it has become a battle for survival is no mere figure of speech. And that was before the recent parliamentary elections …

Mai Mpofu's difficulties were compounded when she attended an election rally addressed by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, shortly ahead of the March 31 election. She is now firmly classified by the ruling ZANU PF party as an MDC member, and by the same token “unpatriotic” and a traitor to her people, who must expect whatever retribution follows. In this Mai Mpofu is not alone for Avoca is well known as an MDC stronghold. In her village for example an almost equal number of families are classed MDC as ZANU PF. The misery therefore inflicted by the intolerant ZANU PF party is to be shared equally by all those associated with the opposition in any way. On a visit to the area shortly before the election Andrew Langa further widened the polarization that had been introduced by his party many months before. He spoke of “those who belong to Tsvangirai” and “those who are mine”, and so as to leave no room for doubt what was on his mind, added “I won't feed another man's children”. However at that stage while he was still hoping for a few extra votes he said it was not too late for MDC supporters to change their minds. “If you vote for me I will give you food”, he promised.

The kraal heads of the area, Mai Mpofu's included, were charged by the ruling party with preparing lists of all their people in order to facilitate the division along party lines. The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) enjoys monopoly powers of procurement and distribution of the staple foods, and the GMB is now firmly under ZANU PF control, with retired military personnel and trusted party cadres appointed to all supervisory positions. Ahead of one of the few distributions of maize to the Avoca area villagers were invited to pay their $ 33,000 (the equivalent of between 10 and 15 rand, or just over one pound) for a 40 kilogram bag of grain – an obviously subsidized price. On the day the grain arrived the excited villagers gathered at the GMB premises to collect their desperately needed food. Mai Mpofu was among them.

When she entered the GMB building Mai Mpofu was troubled to see that ZANU PF youth militia were present in some numbers. The youth have a reputation for carrying out the dirty work required by the party, which frequently includes the use of violence. If the reason for their presence was not immediately clear it soon became so. A few elders at the front were calling out the names of the villagers who had paid in advance and were therefore expected to come forward and each collect a bag of grain. However the youth militia stood in the wings ready to pounce. Whenever a name was called out of a villager suspected by them of MDC sympathies they would swiftly intervene. They would block that person from receiving the food, take the money from the elders and return it forcefully to the poor villager concerned. Mai Mpofu was one of those who had her money thrust into her hands with an abrupt command to “Get out !”

Consequently Mai Mpofu never did receive her life-line supply of maize. Nor was there, or has there been subsequently, any other maize or mealie meal on sale in the area, let alone at the subsidized price it was made available to those villagers approved by ZANU PF. Having grown no maize of her own this season, Mai Mpofu and others like her are bound to rely on the kindness and generosity of anyone who might bring a tiny portion of food back from Bulawayo - some 80 kilometres distant. Not many in her area either had transport or could afford to be generous. The suffering of her family intensified.

Soon after the elections that saw Andrew Langa returned to parliament in one of the most dubious results of all ZANU PF's dubious victories across the country, the swaggering politician returned to Avoca. Alas for the poor people of that area who had not heeded his warning to change their party allegiance. Langa had good reason to know that, whatever the official result, these people had voted overwhelmingly for the MDC. Retribution was swift. He simply withdrew all the grain previously stored at the GMB premises in Avoca and had it transferred to Mkwabeni, a region that his zealous supporters have ensured remains a ZANU PF stronghold. And there Langa planned and presided over a “victory celebration” in which the extra supply of food proved most useful. Needless to say only loyal ZANU PF party cadres were invited to the party. A few suspected of MDC sympathies who had the misfortune not to remove themselves quickly enough were, on Andrew Langa's prompting, given a good thrashing by the youth militia. (One of those who were attacked by ZANU PF thugs, an MDC youth whose tragic story is told elsewhere, was actually beaten to death)

Since the election, some seven weeks ago, Mai Mpofu has not been able to purchase any maize or mealie meal locally. When asked how she and her family were surviving she shrugged her thin shoulders and remained silent. No doubt it was as much a mystery to her as to any inquisitive reporter. The fact is, as others living nearby confirm, that many such have been reduced to scavenging for berries and wild fruits to remain alive. How many meals does she have a day? The answer is one – if she is lucky. A neighbour who is fortunate enough to have a cow will let her have a little milk which she will have with pap, or another neighbour will give her a few vegetables gathered from a pathetic garden. Mai Mpofu admitted that hunger was now a permanent reality for her and it sometimes made her feel really ill. How were little children and the frail elderly surviving, I enquired. She replied that those in the community who still had a little energy left would somehow support them.

The spectre of famine is ominously close to these people. “Here,” said Mai Mpofu, “you will only see sad faces.” And it is true. Most people look like walking zombies. None dare talk about their misery with strangers. None that is save Mai Mpofu.

I had a final question for this brave, sad woman. I was curious to know whether ZANU PF and MDC shared equally in the suffering within a village designated like hers as MDC and therefore cut off from all food supply lines. “Oh no,” she replied, with the nearest she ever came to a smile during the whole interview: “the ZANU PF families are fed secretly at night.”