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Zimbabwe Says US Plans to Intervene - NGOs - Global policy Forum Zimbabwe Says US Plans to Intervene
By Stella Mapenzauswa
Reuters
November 7, 2002
Zimbabwe accused the United States yesterday of trying to use widespread food shortages as a pretext to invade the southern African state or to interfere in its affairs. The US Embassy in Harare dismissed the charges, saying that only Zimbabweans could solve their country's problems.
The official Herald newspaper quoted Zimbabwe's army chief, General Vitalis Zvinavashe, as saying that Washington was seeking to control the activities of nongovernmental organizations involved in distribution of relief supplies. ''We are not answerable to the US,'' Zvinavashe said. ''They are using food as a ploy to directly control NGOs distributing food and disregard the laws of Zimbabwe.''
The Herald itself said in a front-page story: ''The United States is planning to invade Zimbabwe within the next six months on the pretext of bringing relief food aid to people who were allegedly being denied food on political grounds.''
The US Embassy released a statement saying: ''Food donated by the United States must be distributed according to need, not political affiliation. We believe this is the principle on which all food aid should be distributed.''
On Monday, the United States charged that officials in President Robert Mugabe's government were politicizing famine relief and said it was looking at ways to ensure that food reached those who needed it, regardless of political affiliation. Over the weekend, the Washington Times quoted Mark Bellamy, deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, as saying that the United States was considering interventionist measures that could challenge Zimbabwean sovereignty.
Washington has said that food distribution methods have been under review since Zimbabwean authorities seized grain last month that the UN's World Food Program was distributing and gave it to supporters of Mugabe's governing ZANU-PF party.
''We remain committed to helping the people of Zimbabwe survive the current food crisis and have contributed nearly 150,000 metric tons of food, almost half of all international assistance to date,'' the US embassy statement said.
Once a regional breadbasket, Zimbabwe needs food aid because of a sharp drop in maize output, which aid agencies blame partly on the government's seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
The government says the current food shortage is due solely to a drought.
An estimated 4.5 million Zimbabweans need food aid now, and the number will rise to 6.7 million by March. They are among 14.4 million people facing severe food shortages across southern Africa.
Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, says that land reforms will correct the imbalances of colonialism.
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