July 2001 Africa News Headlines

Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - Web posted at 1:07:13 PM GMT

MDC lambasts African leaders for backing Mugabe

Zimbabwe's main opposition party blasted a summit of African leaders Wednesday for what it called "blind loyalty" to the repressive policies of President Robert Mugabe.

The Movement for Democratic Change, the biggest threat to Mugabe's 21-year-old hold on power, said leaders meeting in neighboring Zambia wanted to perpetuate the rule of aging fellow despots.

The Organization of African Unity is expected Wednesday to adopt a resolution supporting Mugabe's plan to seize white-owned farms and distribute them to landless blacks without paying compensation.

"They have chosen to support a program that is a disaster. They are choosing to ignore rampant lawlessness, killings, maimings and displacements" caused by illegal land seizures, said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

"It is blind loyalty that is not based on the facts or the feelings and opinions of Zimbabweans," he said.

In a draft resolution, African foreign ministers at the summit praised Mugabe's efforts to seize white farms and noted with concern "British moves to mobilize European and North American countries to isolate and vilify Zimbabwe."

Ruling party militants and squatters began occupying hundreds of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe 18 months ago, demanding they be nationalized and turned over to landless blacks.

The government has since earmarked about 4,500 of the country's 5,000 white-owned farms for seizure, a plan the courts have ruled violates Zimbabwe's own land reform laws.

At least 36 people have died and thousands were left homeless in political violence that began with the land occupations.

The government admitted July 5 it had begun looking for food aid from foreign donors to make up for a wheat and corn shortfall blamed largely on farm disruptions and mismanagement at the state Grain Marketing Board.

The grain marketing monopoly pegged its prices and frequently ran out of money to pay peasant farmers for their produce, preventing them buying adequate seeds and materials for replanting.

Tsvangirai said the opposition will ask donors, most of whom have shunned the government, to protest a breakdown in law and order and to ensure distribution of food aid is handled by independent agencies led by the U.N. Development Program.

"We need a mechanism that is not going to be exploited for political purposes and patronage," he said.

Food shortages are expected ahead of presidential elections early next year.

Mugabe's ruling party won a narrow majority of 62 of the 120 elected seats in parliamentary elections last June. In the last parliament, Mugabe controlled all but three seats.

The opposition accuses Mugabe of orchestrating illegal land seizures to bolster the ruling party's flagging popularity in its traditional rural strongholds.

A regional food security monitoring group and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization have forecast Zimbabwe will need to import about 600,000 tons of wheat and corn in coming months.

"There is irrefutable evidence there's a disaster out there waiting to happen," Tsvangirai said.

Nampa-Sapa-AP

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