The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
Zimbabwe bishop slams leaders | ||
"All they do is back each other up and drink tea together," said Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo. The African Union summit has dropped a report criticising Zimbabwe's human rights record from its agenda after complaints from Mr Mugabe's government. Mr Ncube said that Mr Mugabe was planning to use food aid as a political tool to win elections next year. "It is clear that they want to use starvation as a tool to get people to vote for them," he said. The Zimbabwe government is predicting bumper harvests this year after three years of food shortages. But the United Nations estimates that Zimbabwe will grow less than half the food it needs this year. 'Excuse' The AU's executive council adopted the critical report, which was written in 2002, on Monday. But Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said this had broken procedural rules because his ministry had not been given the chance to see it first.
"African leaders keep saying it is for the people of Zimbabwe to work it out. This is just an excuse for them. They fear facing the facts but they know very well there are so many injustices in Zimbabwe," Mr Ncube said. He also said they had not done enough to stop the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where some three million people have died. African leaders, except those of Botswana, Ghana and Senegal, have been reluctant to criticise Mr Mugabe's rule. BBC Southern Africa correspondent Barnaby Phillips says many African leaders agreed with Mr Mugabe that Zimbabwe's crisis is caused by British interference and historic inequalities in land ownership. |