Disastrous Mugabe preaches disaster management

via Disastrous Mugabe preaches disaster management – The Zimbabwean 17 July 2015 by Jera

Robert Mugabe has caused one disaster after another in his homeland. Yet in New York he suddenly became the bastion of knowledge on disaster management – calling upon the international community to scale up its preparedness to manage disasters.

In his address at the International Ebola Conference in New York, Mugabe made a ‘clarion call to the international collective to upscale its preparedness and capacity to handle and manage disasters, particularly health epidemics.’ Mugabe further said ‘health epidemics bring with them far-reaching consequences on the economic social and cultural structures of the affected societies.’

The words ‘disaster’, ‘preparedness’ and ‘Mugabe’ should never ever be used in the same sentence. Mugabe, ably assisted by Zanu (PF), has wrecked Zimbabwe’s economy and brought about a chain of related problems.

Collapsed health system

In 2013, Health Minister David Parirenyatwa toured Harare Hospital, where he discovered mizhanje and jacaranda trees growing in the middle of a new wing. The incomplete wing had been idle since 2006 due to shortage of funds. At the height of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis between 2000 and 2009, pregnant women slept on hospital floors, due to lack of beds. Over 6,000 people perished during the 2008 cholera epidemic.

The country’s citizens spilled into the border town of Musina in neigbouring South Africa, in search of medical attention, after local dispensaries ran out of drugs. The mortuaries at government hospitals are a place visited only by those with strong stomachs. There, bodies tumble out of the refrigerated drawers owing to shortage of space.

Harare hospital mortuary has a capacity of 146 but holds on average 300 corpses at any given time. Patients admitted to public hospitals are required to bring their own surgical gloves and sutures because the government is broke. It is no wonder Mugabe flies all the way to Malaysia for treatment.

Agricultural shambles

In 2000, Mugabe grabbed land from competent farmers and redistributed it to his cronies and other hangers on. Fifteen years later, Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector is a shambles. The Cold Storage Commission, which was at one point the largest meat processor in Africa now only operates at below 10%. On most farms, it is all grass and tree stumps. Not much farming is being done.

If anybody picks up a hoe it is to dig hither and thither in search of mice or gold. An environmental crisis is on the horizon, as farmers continue to cut trees for firewood which is sold in cities where electricity supply is erratic. In a 2013 parliamentary debate, the MP for Southerton, Gift Chimanikire, stated that Zimbabwe uses 6million tonnes of firewood annually.

According to the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe, between 1998 and 2013, Zimbabwe lost 15% of tree cover. Whereas in 1999 farmers used coal in their tobacco curing process, firewood is now the fuel of choice. The railway network has collapsed, cutting off coal supply to the farmlands. In any case, even if coal was made available to the new farmers, many of them cannot afford to purchase coal at $250 per tonne.

Fishing in the country’s rivers and dams is unmonitored. It is open season – thapha utshiye, baya wabaya. Poachers line the country’s highways, waving uncovered fish to travellers. I often wonder where the fish sellers wash their hands, after relieving themselves. Some of their stolen catch finds its way to the cities where it is spread out on fly-ridden vending stalls. Who cares about cholera!

The result of inactivity on farms is that Zimbabwe’s granaries are empty. This year, the country needs to import 700,000 metric tonnes of maize to avert starvation. The few farmers who are producing grain are fed up with the Grain Marketing Board which owes them money from the last harvest. Consequently, the shortage of food is likely to spill into 2016. Forget about the recommended 3 square meals. The majority survive on one meal per day.

Dilapidated infrastructure

When a pothole is deep enough for a child to sit in, then a new noun is necessary – try ‘crater’ or ‘pit.’ It is not advisable to swerve off the roads at night because bridges and culverts are not clearly marked. If the potholes and invisible bridges don’t get you, mad drivers with ill-gotten licences will.

It is not only the country’s roads that are a death trap – according to the National Social Security Authority, 57% of elevators in Zimbabwe do not work. In the past four months, three people have died and three others have been injured in lift accidents, both incidents having occurred at government buildings.

According to transport minister, Obert Mpofu, the rail system has virtually collapsed. ‘The entire railway system of this country needs to be rehabilitated… currently there are no signals and trains just pass by where there are no signals and sometimes they have to use cellphones to communicate,’ said Mpofu.

From 2007 to 2013, 167 people were killed and 581 injured in collisions with trains at rail-road level crossings. The NRZ fleet, wagons and lines are over 40 years old.

Floods

When Mugabe’s government appeared to have done one thing right in constructing the Tokwe Mukosi dam, flood waters washed away the homes of 20,000 people in Februry 2014. Mugabe, who today preaches disaster-preparedness, had no helicopters to airlift those that were marooned in the floodwaters.

We were rescued by Namibia. The air force of Zimbabwe’s fleet is depleted – but when Grace Mugabe needs to take a joyride, we suddenly have enough choppers available. After begging for helicopters we went on to beg for food, blankets, mosquito nets and tents from those evil Europeans.

In Chingwizi refugee camp set up for flood victims, teenage pregnancies were common – children and women were sometimes forced to offer sexual favours to the police who controlled food supplies. Some reports say the supply ration per family was 500g beans, 2kg flour, 2kg sugar, 2litres cooking oil, 500g salt , 1 packet candles and 1kg kapenta (dried sardines) per week. It was no surprise when an outbreak of venereal diseases followed, along with the obligatory diarrhoea eruption.

Mugabe never made an appearance in Tokwe-Mukosi, during or after the flood. In 2014, sungura musician and Red Cross ambassador, Alick Macheso broke down and wept after seeing, first hand, the level of suffering endured by residents of Chingwizi. Ras Caleb summed it up in his song – ‘Tokwe-Mukosi, zvinorwadza, zvinorwadza’ (how sad, how sad).

Manmade mayhem

In the absence of natural catastrophes, we can trust Mugabe to create disasters for us: Operation Murambatsvina left over 700,000 people homeless. And only last week police set alight merchandise belonging to street vendors – people who are only on the streets because Mugabe cannot create jobs for them; over 80% unemployed.

Mugabe has caused one disaster after another in his homeland. Yet in New York he suddenly became the bastion of knowledge on disaster management.

Over three million Zimbabweans live as refugees outside the country’s borders, thanks to him. Several are maimed or killed in neighbouring South Africa. When Mugabe has the temerity to stand on a soap box and pontificate about ‘disaster preparedness’ it begs the question – what has he done to manage natural and manmade catastrophes in Zimbabwe? – Till next week, my pen is capped. Jerà Twitter @JeraZW