‘Get them Zimbabweans nice and skinny in time for the voting season…’
October 10th, 2005
My daily email courtesy of zwnews arrived this morning bearing an unapologetically emotional outburst by Pius Wakatama – the full article carried in The Standard. He gives full vent to the many and various reasons why he takes an ‘emotional’ position on what’s happening in Zimbabwe. But it was this that caught my eye (he’s talking about Mugabe’s zanu-pf government).
The only feelings they show are feelings of hatred for those who dare question their legitimacy or right to eat like pigs when the rest of the country goes hungry. How can any true and caring Zimbabwean not become emotional and mad when the country’s director of social welfare brazenly says Zimbabwe does not need international food aid? He actually said the majority of the people are able to buy food on their own thus invalidating the need for an international appeal for food aid. I wish I could call a rally of the starving masses in Dzivarasekwa and introduce him to them as the man who told willing donors that they didn’t need food aid. “Vaimuita kanyama-kanyama.”- They would tear him to pieces right there and then. The hunger and suffering there is pitiful. Ask the churches and non-governmental organisations who are trying to feed them with what little food they get if you want to know the truth.
I know how you feel Pius! In fact, I get emotional every time I think about the arrogance and evilness of Mugabe’s ‘let them eat potatoes’ comment, and as for what the Director of Social Welfare, Sydney Mhishi, said. Well……! Can someone please tell the man that inflation went up from 254,8% in July, to 265.1% in August, to a cracking 359.8% in September (here on Reuters). Get real!
But my emotions are not only restricted to Zanu-PF. Sometimes I get a little annoyed with the world too!
Why do warning bells not go off in the heads of the world’s leaders when zanu-pf comes out and says that if there is any food aid, it will only be distributed AFTER the Senate polls. How many times do Zimbabweans need to tell the same story before people realise that food in the hands of zanu-pf is a political weapon; that targetted starvation is a neat way of getting votes? No wonder Zimbabweans are getting bone weary and disenchanted. With that sort of timing, zanu-pf may as well just have come right out and said ‘we need people nice and hungry when voting comes around!’.
As Zimbabweans are all too aware, we’ve been there before – here, here and here.
