 February 20, 2003 As Zimbabwe starves, Mrs Mugabe goes shopping |
| A guard uses his coat to try to shield Grace Mugabe from photographers in Paris yesterday. Photograph by Robert Rebours |
PRESIDENT CHIRAC gave Robert Mugabe a red-carpet welcome to Paris
yesterday, providing Africa’s most infamous dictator with an entire wing of a
luxury hotel.
While French police arrested more than a dozen demonstrators protesting at Zimbabwe’s human rights abuses, Mr Mugabe’s wife, Grace, was given security guards and a limousine as she set out on what observers said was almost certainly a shopping trip.
“Mugabe should not be wined and dined at the Elysée Palace. He should be put on trial for the crime of torture,” Peter Tatchell, the British gay and human rights campaigner, said.
President Mugabe is among a number of brutal rulers invited to a France-Africa summit at a time when Jacques Chirac is also attempting to avert a war against Iraq. The French President invited the Zimbabwean leader despite a European Union travel ban, and the French authorities seemed to be doing all they could to pamper and protect him.
Demonstrators chanting “Mugabe, murderer”, were arrested after gathering outside the Plaza-Athénée hotel, where Mr Mugabe is staying. A BBC correspondent and three other journalists covering a demonstration outside the Zimbabwean Embassy were also detained for almost half an hour.
All the while, Mr and Mrs Mugabe and their entourage were enjoying the comforts of the luxurious Plaza-Athénée in the Avenue Montaigne at the expense of the French taxpayer.
The 33 rooms in the East Wing on the third floor were reserved for Mr Mugabe’s delegation, with French and Zimbabwean security guards keeping other guests away. The price per night ranges from €520 (£350) for a single room to €4,250 for the presidential suite, with breakfast costing between €33 and €45.
On the ground floor, a burly Zimbabwean security officer was sitting beside a young French woman playing the theme from Chariots of Fire on a harp. At the end of a corridor lit by chandeliers is one of the finest restaurants in Paris, run by the three-star chef Alain Ducasse, which serves dishes such as black truffles with potato marmelade at €110, pigeon filets at €70, and Breton lobster in a crusty tart for €110.
The Conservative MP Alan Duncan said: “France’s invitation to Mugabe is a moral outrage. While he is starving his own people, he’s going to stuff himself at sumptuous banquets in Paris.”
The most prestigious French limousines had been laid on: a Renault Avantime, a Renault Vel Satis and a Peugeot 607. In the morning, Mr and Mrs Mugabe walked into the hotel surrounded by a scrum of security guards. A few hours later Mrs Mugabe came out, bedecked in jewellery, and was shepherded into a waiting limousine by guards.
Officials refused to say where she was going, but she is known to have a penchant for the Parisian equivalent of Harrods, Les Galaries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussman.
Earlier Mr Tatchell had attempted to lead a demonstration against Mr Mugabe outside the Justice Ministry in Paris. Riot police moved in to push protesters away.
Mr Tatchell also filed a lawsuit demanding Mr Mugabe’s arrest for torture, although it has almost no chance of being upheld by French justice.
Today Mr Mugabe will participate in the first plenary session of the two-day summit that brings the French President together with his African counterparts. The Zimbabwean leader will be wined and dined at the Elysée Palace, along with dictators such as Denis Sassou Nguesso, of Congo, and Ange-Felix Potasse, of the Central African Republic.
Mr Mugabe should have been prevented from attending the summit, since he is among 70 members of the Zimbabwean leadership subject to a travel ban under EU sanctions which expired on Tuesday. M Chirac agreed to renew them only on condition that he could invite Mr Mugabe to this summit.
Shortage of Basic Commodities Worsens
The Herald (Harare)
February 19, 2003
Posted to the web February 19, 2003
Harare
THE shortage of some basic commodities is worsening while manufacturers insist that they are producing and distributing enough supplies to satisfy the local market.
However, most of the basics in short supply are available on the black market at inflated prices.
A survey of the city's supermarkets yesterday showed that basics such as cooking oil, fresh milk, beef, margarine and sugar have not been available on the shelves for a long time.
Shop assistants in some of the shops said yesterday that the last time they received some of the basics like margarine was a month ago and were not sure when they would get the next supplies.
However, ordinary consumers said that there were loopholes in the distribution system of the basic commodities, which were not ending up on the shelves.
"It means that there are some unscrupulous deals taking place somewhere. Someone somewhere is making it possible for certain individuals to profiteer at the expense of the public.
"Why is it that rice, washing soap, cooking oil, bread, margarine and even milk are available if you look on the black market but never in the shops and never at stipulated prices?" Ms Irina Chitima of Mbare said.
Dairibord Zimbabwe's chief executive Mr Anthony Mandi-wanza attributed the shortage of milk to insufficient supplies by dairy farmers.
"As much as the company would like to supply milk, dairy farmers are not milking," he said.
But sources at Dairibord said the shortage of fresh milk was a result of a breakdown of equipment used in its processing.
"If it is a question of farmers not supplying to the company, why is it that Chimombe, Lacto and others can be found yet fresh milk cannot? The truth is that the machine used in the processing of fresh milk is not working," the sources said.
At Lever Brothers, which produces Stork margarine, a worker in the consumer enquiries division said the company was still manufacturing and distributing the commodity.
"We are supplying margarine but we are failing to satisfy the market's demand," said the worker.
At Olivine, which produces the Harvest and Buttercup brands of margarine, workers, who declined to be named, said the output volume of Buttercup had been reduced.
"The margarine ends up being sold to companies and certain individuals, which leaves out the ordinary consumer," the workers said.
Consumers said they did not understand how manufacturers could insist that they were producing commodities and distributing them when the shops were empty.
"It does not make sense for them to say they are manufacturing margarine, soft drinks and everything else when the commodities are not available at the shops.
"Unless the commodities are going to some other market, which the public is not aware of, that does not make sense at all," said Mrs Pellargia Pote of Harare.
Other consumers said they suspected that basic commodities were being smuggled out of the country. Surveys also showed some foreign brands of basic commodities that cost more are available on the shelves of some supermarkets.
Efforts to get a comment from the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe yesterday were unsuccessful.