Zimbabwe torture. (AAP)

His wounds are as fresh as his emotions are raw. Recounting his experiences brings tears to Patson Muramoga's eyes.

He is just one of the latest opposition activists to flee to South Africa after being beaten senseless by thugs from Zimbabwe's ruling party. His crime - to be a youth organiser for the Movement for Democratic Change.


PATSON MURAMOGA, MDC ACTIVIST: They started to... They attacked me with an axe. They started to beat me on my head, and I turned and I was trying to avoid, then they beat me in this right hand, and it was broken already.

Patson carries the X-rays of the injuries to his hand with him. They show the hook the perpetrators lodged into it. He has a visa to remain in South Africa for just one more day, and he has no money to renew it.

PATSON MURAMOGA: If I go back to Zimbabwe, they also kill me, and most of the guys, the activists, they are killed - totally killed. Right now I don't have a house in Zimbabwe because they came to my place at the time when I was in Harare and they burnt it down.

Patson's wife is eight months pregnant. She remains in Zimbabwe, but he knows nothing of her fate. His story is all too familiar to this man. Gabriel Shumba is a human rights lawyer. At his office in Pretoria, he documents cases of abuses in Zimbabwe. The stories he hears bring back painful memories.

GABRIEL SHUMBA, ZIMBABWEAN HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: To date, before I fled the country, I had actually been arrested about 14 times.

Gabriel is also Zimbabwean. He used to represent members of the opposition, and for his efforts he almost paid with his life.

GABRIEL SHUMBA: They stripped me naked in this basement, in this room there, completely naked, and then they handcuffed my hands again, shackled my feet and I was asked to force my feet inside my hands, so they placed a plank here, between the hands and the feet and for the next three days I saw horror in there. I think it's something indescribable.

Gabriel says he was hung upside down and beaten mercelessly, but there was worse to come.

GABRIEL SHUMBA: I was so assaulted and electricity was also placed on my private parts. They placed the wire and wrapped it tight around my private parts.

At the end of the torture session, Gabriel found himself sitting in a pool of his own blood, urine and excrement. His torturers forced him to eat it.

GABRIEL SHUMBA: It was really a nightmare, and my crime was simply to practise human rights law in my country of birth.

Both men are angry at the regime's claims that violence against the opposition has been overstated.

PATSON MURAMOGA: These people, they are liars. Mugabe is a liar, Mugabe is a thug.

Gabriel hopes that one day he will be able to bring the perpetrators to justice.

But for the time being, all he can do is gather the evidence and wait for a change in government.
Source: SBS

Zimbabwean exiles vow to return

SBS, Australia

Thursday, 10 July, 2008

Zimbabwean exiles in South Africa are becoming increasingly frustrated by
the impasse in their country, and are threatening to take the law into their
own hands.

Last week, Brian Thomson brought you the story of Patson Murimoga, an
activist for the opposition MDC party, who fled Zimbabwe after being
attacked with an axe and faces certain death if he returns to his homeland.

On the move, yet again. Just when things seemed like they couldn't get any
worse for Patson Murimoga, they have. The caretaker in the block of flats in
which he's been staying has objected to the fact that so many exiled
activists are living there, and he has to move out.

PATSON MURIMOGA, ZIMBABWEAN EXILE: I have got food, I have got blankets, I
have got my clothes, but I don't have a place for myself to stay.

Patson cuts a sad figure on the streets of Pretoria. He is still deeply
traumatised by the attack he endured.

When we met him last week, he had just one day left on his visa. He told us
that the people who assaulted him would kill him if he returned to Zimbabwe,
so we helped him to extend his stay, but it was only a temporary reprieve.

PATSON MURIMOGA: Sometimes I end up thinking it would be better for myself
to commit suicide because I can't live. The situation is bad.

Patson carries baby clothes given to him by a South African who felt sorry
for him, but he has no way of getting them to his wife. Because of his
injuries, he can't even work illegally. He is beginning to run out of hope.

PATSON MURIMOGA: Whom can I tell my problem? I can't tell even my father. I
can't tell even my brother. There is no-one who can help me here in South
Africa.

It seems like almost every Zimbabwean exile here has a sad story to tell.
Three million have fled to South Africa over the past 10 years, many
narrowly escaping with their lives.

The young activists who'd taken Patson in lost friends and family in the
run-up to the election.

They carry with them pictures of those who died.

MAN: He was killed, finally killed, on May 10.

Some of them even have copies of the official paperwork ordering their
elimination.

MAN: 'Elimination' means to be killed. That is the term they use.

As they struggle to survive, the activists here in South Africa say they
feel completely abandoned.

WISEMAN MAYENGEZA, ZIMBABWEAAN EXILE: There are about 30 civil society
organisations here in South Africa which purport to represent the victims of
Zimbabwe, and, up to date, even the MDC doesn't pay even a cent here.

But still, they stand by their leader, fiercely supporting his refusal to
enter a government of national unity with the people who tried to kill them.

WISEMAN MAYENGEZA: We are going to pursue the struggle regardless of how we
are feeling and how we are neglected, we don't mind, but we will go back to
fight for a new political regime in Zimbabwe, and let me tell you, Robert
Mugabe will not last even for six months. We are going there. We know what
we are going to do, we are going to mobilise, and this time, I am sorry, we
might be forced to revenge.

Patson may be less animated than some of the other activists, but he does
agree with their argument.

PATSON MURIMOGA: After killing us, they say we should have to make a
government of national unity. A government of national unity for what?

Since fleeing Zimbabwe, Patson has been unable to contact his wife and he
doesn't know if and when he'll see his baby. But, like the rest of the
Zimbabwean activists in exile here, he says he has no regrets. In Pretoria,
Brian Thomson, World News Australia.
Source: SBS

Pan-African Campaign of Solidarity for Zimbabwe

Why Tsvangirai is not helping Zimbabwe crisis

Business Day

10 July 2008

Thami Mazwai

MANY still recall the Robert Mugabe who won his country's independence on
the lofty principle of the right of Zimbabweans to choose their own
government. He threw his support behind SA's struggle on the same principle.

Today, Mugabe unleashes unimaginable brutality on his fellow Zimbabweans as
he rejects a government they chose. Murder, detention, rape, arson and
looting are the order of the day. Aid agencies are persecuted, thus denying
people food and other basic necessities.

Has the real Mugabe been disrobed , now standing before us naked, in
renunciation of the principles he purportedly fought for? His lack of
scruples, even stealing votes in a one-horse race, is breathtaking.

This happens just after the African Union (AU) has accepted Mwai Kibaki as
president of Kenya, even though he also stole the election, and the real
winner had
to be accommodated in a so-called government of national unity, with Kibaki
still calling the shots.

A similar scenario appears to be the only solution in Zimbabwe. To add
insult to injury, Mugabe demands that Africa and Tsvangirai first recognise
him as president.

However, the many who rightfully demand that Mugabe be removed must also
deal with two other issues that muddy the water. The first is Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai , and the second the
European Union (EU), the UK and the US and, linked to this, Tsvangirai's
relationship with this axis.

Tsvangirai has not yet shown the mettle of a true leader. In fact, he
appears to be the joker in the pack rather than a president in waiting. Was
it not more a case of Mugabe losing the election than that of Tsvangirai
winning ? Was it not simply that Zimbabweans had had enough of Mugabe and
would settle for any alternative?

For instance, instead of Tsvangirai capitalising on his triumph in the first
round and mobilising his forces, he sulked and skulked between the skirts of
African and world leaders. At the weekend, he boycotted a meeting with
Mugabe and President Thabo Mbeki, as if Mugabe
would be the poorer for it. If he had a point to make, he went about it the
wrong way. You do not snub mediators when mediation is your only hope.

He has made his installation everybody's problem but his. He seems to
believe he should simply be anointed. He has indulged in tirades against
Mbeki, the very man responsible for the amendments to Zimbabwe's electoral
laws that ushered in the transparency that ensured there was no rigging this
time.

The previous system allowed the Mugabe-appointed Zimbabwean Election
Commission (ZEC) to alone run the election and then announce the winner. The
transparent election produced a shock. As a ZEC, terrified of Mugabe, sat on
the results, Tsvangirai took to Botswana, SA and Kenya.

He had to be elbowed home to fight the runoff. He virtually sneaked into the
country as he feared being "assassinated". Then he holed himself up in the
Dutch embassy, to the embarrassment of his reluctant hosts, because he saw
police heading towards his house.

This is not to suggest Mugabe's militia would think twice if given the
opportunity to deal with him. But Tsvangirai is not the first leader to have
faced this threat, and will not be the last. Other leaders have handled such
threats, perceived or real, far more diplomatically than he has.

The other complication relates to the EU, UK and US. The quicker they move
to the sidelines, the better for Zimbabwe. Let them impose sanctions but
stop dictating the terms, pace and outcome of negotiations still to come. On
the other hand, the need for a hands-off attitude must not blind us to the
fact that we promised the Group of Eight proper governance in return for
them funding Nepad projects. We must not want to have our cake and eat it
too.

And are the EU, UK and US not aware that Tsvangirai is seen as their puppet?
There is justifiable concern that former colonisers will grab any
opportunity to slink in and continue their rape of Africa. Thus, the
question uppermost in people's minds is: from where comes the money that
enables the MDC to fight elections, go to court at the drop of a hat and fly
Tsvangirai all over the world?

The promise of billions in aid by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and
for displaced farmers, also conjured up images of a former colonial landlord
returning. This has now complicated the situation and guaranteed Mugabe his
sympathisers.

Thus, many of Africa's leaders do not as yet see Tsvangirai as a potential
colleague. However, none of us can choose a president for Zimbabwe.
Regardless of the complications, Zimbabweans have spoken. Pressure must
intensify as mediation is stepped up. Above all, Africa must never ever give
in to Mugabe's demand for recognition. This would make a mockery
of the African renaissance and we would never outlive the shame.

a.. Mazwai is on the staff of the University of Johannesburg.

Negotiations or war, says MDC

The Citizen, SA

09/07/2008 21:43:39

MPHO DUBE

JOHANNESBURG - A vocal war has erupted between Zimbabwe's political rivals
over governance this week.

This became evident yesterday after the (MDC) Movement for Democratic Change's
factions censured each other and Zanu-PF about the crisis in Zimbabwe.

Arthur Mutambara of the MDC minority said there were only two options for
Zimbabweans, namely: "Pick up arms of war and drive out Robert Mugabe," or
"negotiate an all-inclusive political settlement".

"These are the only choices. We need to be decisive in our analysis and
strategic thinking... The only sensible and conceivable way forward is
through national dialogue among all the key civic and political
stakeholders, in pursuit of a political agreement," said Mutambara.

But MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said the party was "gravely disturbed" by
"malicious" statements to the effect that if there was no Government of
National Unity, there would be a civil war.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the party remained committed to a
peaceful, negotiated solution to the Zimbabwean crisis, but a catalogue of
acts of "bad faith" by Zanu-PF continued to "poison" the environment for
negotiations.

mphod@citizen.co.za

Zimbabwe: "One Hell of a Crisis"

Boston University
July 10, 2008

BU prof reflects on the collapse of his homeland
By Chris Berdik
In the nearly three decades Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe, his reputation
has gone from liberation hero to brutal tyrant.

Zimbabwe's economy is in shambles, with high unemployment and
hyperinflation. Following Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms,
agricultural production has fallen, leading to food shortages in a country
once known as the region's breadbasket.

And yet, Mugabe maintains his grip on Zimbabwe. Late last month, he was
sworn in for a sixth term as president, a post he's held since 1980, the
year the country won independence from white colonial rule. He won 85
percent of the vote in a runoff election he called after refusing to concede
his loss to the opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, in an election this
spring.

In the weeks leading up to the June 27 vote, the opposition, and many
international observers and journalists, accused Mugabe's henchmen of
violence and voter intimidation. Indeed, Tsvangirai dropped out of the race,
saying he wanted to avoid further bloodshed.

The crisis in Zimbabwe may be just now coming to a head, but it's been
decades in the making, according to Marthinus Daneel, a School of Theology
professor of missiology (a mix of theology and social science), who splits
his time between Boston and his native Zimbabwe. Daneel has been researching
the traditional religions of Zimbabwe since the 1960s, and he has developed
theological training programs for ministers of the different forms of
indigenous Christianity included in his research. In recent decades, he also
led efforts to link these religious groups to initiatives for positive
social change, including tree planting to fight Zimbabwe's rapid
deforestation, improved maize cultivation methods for subsistence farmers,
and HIV/AIDS education in a country where approximately one in five adults
has the virus, according to the World Health Organization.

Daneel risks being charged with treason for criticizing Mugabe - indeed, the
white colonial regime once accused Daneel of treason for refusing to take up
arms against the black liberation struggle. Still, he spoke with BU Today
about the crisis in his native land by phone from Pretoria, South Africa,
where he is visiting family before returning to Zimbabwe next week.

BU Today: How would you describe the situation in Zimbabwe?
Daneel: Obviously we're in one hell of a crisis. I'm talking from the rural
perspective, because I move around amongst the rural people I've worked with
for many years. They have very few medicines, such as antiretrovirals. The
clinics aren't operating properly. Our money's worth nothing, because of
out-of-control inflation.

A lot of people out in the villages are simply hungry. They're subsistence
farmers, and if they're in the opposition party, then they don't get enough
food. Most of the commercial farms that have been given away to the
so-called war vets - the cronies of Robert Mugabe - are not functioning
well, and a lot of them are held by politicians who are not farmers. So you
would never guess that we were once considered the breadbasket of the
region.

But I know and relate to the people on the ground level, and I saw their
expectations building before the first election. And then as these
atrocities spread, they became even more determined and were very
disappointed when Tsvangirai pulled out. They felt that the deaths had been
in vain, whereas Tsvangirai thought he had to pull out to stop the killing.

These seem like problems that have been years in the making.
It was long in the making, and it should have been countered. But how do you
do that if you've basically got one dominant party? So you end up with a
dictatorship, and when you have that kind of a situation, a lot of the
economy and the natural resources of the country are exploited for a
privileged group and not for the population.

Is this a crisis for the entire region of southern Africa?
Yes. The silent diplomacy of South African President Thabo Mbeki is
something I have really very little time for. Zimbabwe is largely dependent
on South Africa for its economy. For example, Mbeki has been giving huge
amounts of electricity to Mugabe at the expense of the taxpayers of South
Africa. But because Mbeki is trying to cover for Mugabe, he has not
criticized all the murders, torture, and killings that have taken place.

He has the power and the clout, if he wants to use them, to tell Mugabe,
"These are the conditions and play ball or else we're closing the taps."
Mugabe would be on his knees.

Are African leaders shying away from standing up to someone they regard as a
fellow freedom fighter against colonial rule?
There has to come a time when you say, "Look you're one of us, but you're
way out of line." But right now, whenever they hear of sanctions coming from
Europe or America, they throw a blanket over the African Union and say,
"Keep your hands off of Africa." Look at what has happened at the African
Union meeting in Egypt - there were some African leaders who have come out
and criticized Mugabe, and that's a little better than before. But the only
consensus they were able to come to was that Mugabe is still the president
and needs to negotiate with Tsvangirai. And with those shallow graves of the
tortured, maimed, and killed people of the opposition party lying all over
the country, what kind of negotiations can there be?

Mbeki argues for a negotiated settlement in which Mugabe would agree to
share power with Tsvangirai. Do you hold out hope for a power-sharing
government in Zimbabwe?
I'm skeptical. I've seen the way things are done here, and I really doubt it
will be a fair solution at all. And I think Tsvangirai has had enough. I
think he will not subject himself unless there is real pressure from the
outside for Mugabe to make real compromises and recognize Tsvangirai's
opposition party as a legitimate political party. Now, I'm not a politician.
I'm not in the opposition. But this is probably why Mugabe acts as he has,
because he realizes that the country is in the process of pretty much
rejecting his leadership.

The international observers have indicated that in that first election,
Tsvangirai won a clear majority, and I think it's quite likely there will be
uprisings and civil unrest until we get a real possibility of another
election on even terms. The real problem with negotiating now is that the
power is held by the generals, who are the same people who massacred 20,000
Zimbabweans in the early 1980s. They want desperately to retain their
privileged positions and to avoid prosecution for their crimes. Thus,
negotiations will fail because these generals will never give up power.

Do you believe Americans and Europeans generally don't pay much attention to
Africa unless there's mass starvation or a bloodletting?
I do feel that there is a certain neglect, but it's also understandable.
After all, there's no oil here, you know. That's a cynical observation. But
I've seen a lot of Western-backed development schemes, including ones I've
been involved with, fall apart because of rivalries and other problems on
the local level, where people get some leadership and responsibility and
forget about the project itself. They want to accommodate their extended
family and the clan. And they do so at the expense of the greater population
that could benefit from the project. That breaks your heart time and time
again. And I think this has happened so often that people in the West
withdraw.

Still, Africa ultimately will have to lift itself and be counted in the
world. I think that as mutual respect grows between Africa and the West, and
people start to understand the continent, it will improve slowly. The love
of the continent is there in so many of us, but at the same time, it's
Africa that has to help itself. It's going to be many generations until the
backlash against colonialism has healed to the extent that it's not the
fellow freedom fighter that matters. It's the guy who's for real freedom,
instead of his own benefit, and who is prepared to build up the country and
the continent. When that sensibility takes over, this country and continent
will rise, I hope.

How has the current crisis affected your work?
Well, I'm down to people looking after the house, including an adopted
African grandson who lives on the premises with his wife and takes care of
the place. Some African staff are living there. But the teachers and others
have gone. I can do follow-up research and so on. But it is also the
question as to whether one wants to live with that kind of risk.

And I ask myself whether I want to continue living there, whether it's
responsible to my wife and others for me to continue living there. Can I
sell the house? Maybe, maybe not. You can't take your money out, and if you
sell for Zimbabwe currency, never mind how many zillions you're going to get
for it, you can put all that money in a wheelbarrow and go throw it in a
fire and then steal the wheelbarrow, because that'll be worth more than that
worthless money.

My heart says stay, and hope, and be identified with the people as I've done
over the years. But my head says, just get out of there. I've lived through
other violent times. I had a sister who was shot in the legs in an ambush
during the liberation struggle. I was in one ambush when they hit the car of
the mayor of my town, who was directly behind my vehicle. Another friend of
mine, a minister, was just shot like a dog next to the road. These things
did happen, and some of it can happen again when you get chaos, and then it
will be too late if you're inside.

What keeps you there?
It's the life I've been living. I also don't want to be in exile. I want to
live in Africa, because I love this part of the world. My sympathy lies with
the people here. They are poor, and you can pick out those who are suffering
with HIV/AIDS and are on their last legs. But it's amazing that at our
ceremonies of graduation, they put on their only good clothes and they come
and dance. They make an effort to come out and celebrate life. I complain
about the cost of diesel and the economy and whatever, and these people who
are virtually dying come out and celebrate like you can't believe. They've
taught me more than I have taught them about living and celebrating life
while the light of day is still here. And that has been a great privilege.

The country, the continent is wonderful, beautiful. I've had the privilege
of living here for quite a while and camping out next to that massive river,
the Zambezi, where you hear at night the honking of the hippo and the lions
walking and talking to each other and growling. That orchestra - it's the
continent talking to you. And if you've done that a number of times, it gets
into your blood. It's part of you, and you don't want to be rid of it,
because this continent sits inside you.

Chris Berdik can be reached at cberdik@bu.edu.

End aid to Zimbabwe, end tyrant's rule

Arizona Republic

Jul. 10, 2008 12:00 AM

With regard to your editorial "End this tyrant's rule" in Tuesday's
Republic:

I am utterly amazed that politicians worldwide including the United Nations,
the African Union, Group of Eight, U.S. administrations over the last 20
years, and many others seem to overlook the fact that Robert Mugabe operates
under the childhood saying "sticks and stones may break my bones but words
will never hurt me."

All we hear, time and time again, from those condemning Mugabe are words,
words, words. "Condemn," "strongly condemn," "support sanctions" (blah,
blah, blah) while the people of Zimbabwe are brutally beaten and killed.
Does this remind you of the world standing by on the sidelines while
watching the slaughter in Rwanda of over 800,000 people?

Mugabe is thumbing his nose at the world and enjoying every moment of his
despotic hold over what was once the breadbasket of southern Africa and a
wonderful country. While welcoming with open arms U.S. aid to feed the
people of Zimbabwe, he plunders and steals the country into economic ruin.

Stop U.S. aid to Zimbabwe! If Congress had passed the Zimbabwe Democracy Act
2000 (sponsored by Sen. John McCain), maybe, just maybe, Mugabe's rule could
have been shortened. - Hal Cope,Scottsdale

Satirical view of African tragedy

http://www.times.co.nz

Thursday, 10 July 2008

By CAMERON BROADHURST
. Howick and Pakuranga Times

His Excellency is in Love, plays at the Salvation Army Hall, 369 Queen St,
on July 19 at 6.30pm. Tickets $20, ph: 021-132-8722.

AFTER your work has been banned in Zimbabwe from threats of riot police,
putting on a play in Auckland is less formidable.

The heavy handed response last year to Stanley Makuwe's work was enough to
convince the Pakuranga resident that his plays might be better done here
instead.

As the post-election crisis continues in Zimbabwe, Mr Makuwe has staged a
second political satire with fellow Zimbabweans from the theatre group
Padare, to run in Auckland this month.

Moonlighting as a playwright and writer, Mr Makuwe works days as a mental
health nurse at Middlemore Hospital.

Zimbabwe is never far from his thoughts as he tunes into internet radio
stations banned in his homeland, or talks by phone with close family members
still living there.

"It's hard for everyone because we have families there and think of them all
the time," says Mr Makuwe. "We're just hoping for negotiations. This can't
go on forever."

His new play charts the decline of a dictator as the nation crumbles.
Director Sam Mudzanire and most of the actors are Zimbabwean, while the lead
is played by Rwandan Francois Byamana, who has also experienced political
instability first hand.

He was among the refugees holed up in a hotel during the 1990s Rwanda
crisis, a story made famous in the movie Hotel Rwanda.

The African drama group's name, Padare, means "fireside storytelling".
Formed in February, it's theatre that harks back to the ancient tradition of
stories told to young people around the fire, stories the tribe needs to
hear.

"This is art," says Mr Makuwe. "We're crying for the whole of Africa,
because everywhere there are these problems. This is to give voice to the
people."

His roots as a writer go back to a childhood spent in the Shurugwi district
of Zimbabwe.

After a late application saw his hopes dashed to train as a journalist, he
became a nurse in the capital Harare.

Six years ago, just after the 2002 election when Robert Mugabe once again
took power, Mr Makuwe departed with his wife for a life in New Zealand.

"We left right on the edge when things were starting to fall to pieces," he
says.

A year after arriving they had a daughter. Only then did Mr Makuwe turn
seriously to writing, prompted by a hospital colleague with literary
passion.

Having begun, recognition wasn't too far off. One of his short stories, Life
in a Third World Mortuary, was runner-up in a 2005 BBC African writing
competition.

He added it to other stories in the collection Under This Tree (a Newstalk
ZB book of the week). It inspired his first play The Dead Shall Rise Again,
a kind of political zombie story.

The dead rise to protest, march to the state house to stage a coup against
the president and eventually kill him, whereupon he's sent to hell to face
the souls of the dead once more.

In 2007 the play was highly commended at the International Playwrights
Competition, arousing the interest of Zimbabwean director Cont Mhlanga, who
was establishing protest theatre in the country.

The performance had been publicised and was ready to run last year, but at
the last minute was pulled when police threatened to send in forces if it
went ahead.

"They said the riot police were on standby," says Mr Makuwe.

He then realised his plays would not be able to go ahead in his native
country, so has since marshalled the creative forces of the local African
community to stage his work in New Zealand.

His Excellency also features dance by the South African Zulu troupe, Taste
of Africa.

It appears the work of Padare is just beginning, with performances scheduled
for Wellington and possibly Christchurch and further plays to come.

"This is the first African theatre group in New Zealand," enthuses Mr
Makuwe. "We can't stop now, we've made history. [People] should know these
things."

Where is it on?

His Excellency is in Love, plays at the Salvation Army Hall, 369 Queen St,
on July 19 at 6.30pm. Tickets $20, ph: 021-132-8722.

Africa is giving nothing to anyone -- apart from AIDS

Irish Independent

Thursday July 10 2008
No. It will not do. Even as we see African states refusing to take action to
restore something resembling civilisation in Zimbabwe, the begging bowl for
Ethiopia is being passed around to us, yet again. It is nearly 25 years
since Ethiopia's (and Bob Geldof's) famous Feed The World campaign, and in
that time Ethiopia's population has grown from 33.5 million to 78 million
today.

So why on earth should I do anything to encourage further catastrophic
demographic growth in that country? Where is the logic? There is none. To be
sure, there are two things saying that logic doesn't count.

One is my conscience, and the other is the picture, yet again, of another
wide-eyed child, yet again, gazing, yet again, at the camera, which yet
again, captures the tragedy of . . .

Sorry. My conscience has toured this territory on foot and financially.
Unlike most of you, I have been to Ethiopia; like most of you, I have
stumped up the loot to charities to stop starvation there. The wide-eyed
boy-child we saved, 20 years or so ago, is now a priapic,
Kalashnikov-bearing hearty, siring children whenever the whim takes him.

There is, no doubt a good argument why we should prolong this predatory and
dysfunctional economic, social and sexual system; but I do not know what it
is. There is, on the other hand, every reason not to write a column like
this.

It will win no friends, and will provoke the self-righteous wrath of, well,
the self-righteous, letter-writing wrathful, a species which never fails to
contaminate almost every debate in Irish life with its sneers and its moral
superiority. It will also probably enrage some of the finest men in Irish
life, like John O'Shea, of Goal; and the Finucane brothers, men whom I
admire enormously. So be it.

But, please, please, you self-righteously wrathful, spare me mention of our
own Famine, with this or that lazy analogy. There is no comparison. Within
20 years of the Famine, the Irish population was down by 30pc. Over the
equivalent period, thanks to western food, the Mercedes 10-wheel truck and
the Lockheed Hercules, Ethiopia's has more than doubled.

Alas, that wretched country is not alone in its madness. Somewhere, over the
rainbow, lies Somalia, another fine land of violent, Kalashnikov-toting,
khat-chewing, girl-circumcising, permanently tumescent layabouts.

Indeed, we now have almost an entire continent of sexually

hyperactive indigents, with tens of millions of people who only survive
because of help from the outside world.

This dependency has not stimulated political prudence or commonsense.
Indeed, voodoo idiocy seems to be in the ascendant, with the next president
of South Africa being a firm believer in the efficacy of a little tap water
on the post-coital penis as a sure preventative against infection. Needless
to say, poverty, hunger and societal meltdown have not prevented idiotic
wars involving Tigre, Uganda, Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea etcetera.

Broad brush-strokes, to be sure. But broad brush-strokes are often the way
that history paints its gaudier, if more decisive, chapters. Japan, China,
Russia, Korea, Poland, Germany, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the 20th
century have endured worse broad brush-strokes than almost any part of
Africa.

They are now -- one way or another -- virtually all giving aid to or
investing in Africa, whereas Africa, with its vast savannahs and its lush
pastures, is giving almost nothing to anyone, apart from AIDS.

Meanwhile, Africa's peoples are outstripping their resources, and causing
catastrophic ecological degradation. By 2050, the population of Ethiopia
will be 177 million: The equivalent of France, Germany and Benelux today,
but located on the parched and increasingly protein-free wastelands of the
Great Rift Valley.

So, how much sense does it make for us actively to increase the adult
population of what is already a vastly over-populated, environmentally
devastated and economically dependent country?

How much morality is there in saving an Ethiopian child from starvation
today, for it to survive to a life of brutal circumcision, poverty, hunger,
violence and sexual abuse, resulting in another half-dozen such wide-eyed
children, with comparably jolly little lives ahead of them? Of course, it
might make you feel better, which is a prime reason for so much charity. But
that is not good enough.

For self-serving generosity has been one of the curses of Africa. It has
sustained political systems which would otherwise have collapsed.

It prolonged the Eritrean-Ethiopian war by nearly a decade. It is inspiring
Bill Gates' programme to rid the continent of malaria, when, in the almost
complete absence of personal self-discipline, that disease is one of the
most efficacious forms of population-control now operating.

If his programme is successful, tens of millions of children who would
otherwise have died in infancy will survive to adulthood, he boasts. Oh
good: then what?I know. Let them all come here. Yes, that's an idea.

kmyers@independent.ie