The potential for mass starvation in Zimbabwe is now so real and close that Cardinal Wilfred Napier, President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, and Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo have both, separately, called on the United Nations' Security Council to take responsibility for the crisis and act immediately.

They stress that, if the organisation does not respond quickly and decisively to ensure that food aid comes into the country and is distributed fairly to all communities without political interference, it will become complicit in the rapidly unfolding humanitarian disaster.

Cardinal Napier joins his brother cleric of the Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe and other regional church leaders in branding the Mugabe regime guilty of a crime against humanity in relation to the politicization of food, and in calling upon the international community to act.

Njabuliso Mguni: MDC Candidate

This weekend, the people of Lupane will be queuing to cast their vote in a by-election resulting from the death of David Mpala, the MDC Member of Parliament elected in 2000. Theirs is no ordinary constituency: Lupane is a name synonymous with some of the worst human rights violations imaginable. This drought stricken remote rural area of Zimbabwe has a long acquaintance with violence. During the liberation struggle, international newspapers carried reports of vicious attacks on missionaries and civilians in the area. But freedom did not bring peace; international attention was once again focussed on Lupane in post-independence Zimbabwe in July 1982 when six foreign tourists were allegedly abducted.