The United Nations' famine relief operation in Zimbabwe, which will
feed 5,5-million starving people this year, is in danger of being
cut off after President Robert Mugabe's regime ordered all food aid
agencies to hand over their famine relief operations to state
control, it was confirmed yesterday.
Luis Clemens, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN's famine relief arm, said that the government had reversed an agreement with the agency that previously gave the WFP and the independent aid agencies working under it, exclusive right to distribute food supplies donated by Western governments.
The directive allows the WFP and the independent donor agencies to continue delivering food to distribution points around the country - but says that local government officials will take over from the UN in selecting beneficiaries and in handing out the donated food.
"WFP is consulting with its partner non-governmental organisations and government authorities about the new policy directive. We are reviewing this new directive and seeking clarification," Clemens said.
Recent food security reports say the Zimbabwe government has virtually no food stocks of its own, and is unable to carry out its own famine relief operations.
Last year there were widespread reports by aid agencies and human rights organisations that the regime deliberately withheld famine relief supplies from pro-opposition areas to force them to support President Robert Mugabe's ruling party.
"The government should not be allowed anywhere need food distribution," said Renson Gasela, agriculture shadow MP for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
"The idea is to hijack donor food and use it as a campaign for council elections, scheduled for the end of this month”.
Western donors immediately protested against the directive, with a British official here making clear it had no intention of complying.
"Humanitarian assistance from the British government is apolitical, targeted on the basis of need alone," said British high commission spokesperson Sophie Honey.
"This is a fundamental principle for us".
"We are satisfied with the way (international) humanitarian assistance was distributed last year," said a spokesperson for the US embassy here.
Officials from other Western governments went little further than saying they were "seeking clarification" from the regime over the directive.
However, Western diplomats ruled out any possibility of letting the government handle the distribution of their food.
"We saw what happened with the government's food distribution last year," said one diplomat.
"We don't want to see that happen with ours this year".
Another said: "We will try and find a way through this, because we are committed to food aid. But we will not allow our principle of no government interference to be flouted".
The UN maintains a firm policy all over the world that it runs famine relief operations without the involvement of the government's where it operates, to avoid corruption and abuse of food aid.
The UN said last week that 3,3-million Zimbabweans were in "urgent need" of food. At some distribution points, people were so hungry they were eating raw maize as soon as it was given to them.
The independent Daily News today quoted Welfare Minister July Moyo as saying: "No international donor can tell us that the government should not be involved in food distribution, when we are the ones who asked for it".
In June last year, ruling party militias seized UN food stocks in a remote area in Western Zimbabwe, immediately before a by- election was due to be held, and issued food to anyone who could present a ruling party membership card.
The WFP says that this was the only case in which the Zimbabwean government abused UN food operations, but human rights organisations and independent food aid agencies say it has become official policy during the last two years of famine for the regime to issue food in rural areas at polling stations during elections, only to ruling party supporters.
International organisations including the UN and the International Monetary Fund say that the main cause of the famine is Mugabe's reckless economic policies and his purge of white commercial farmers from their farms. – Sapa-DPA.
Luis Clemens, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN's famine relief arm, said that the government had reversed an agreement with the agency that previously gave the WFP and the independent aid agencies working under it, exclusive right to distribute food supplies donated by Western governments.
The directive allows the WFP and the independent donor agencies to continue delivering food to distribution points around the country - but says that local government officials will take over from the UN in selecting beneficiaries and in handing out the donated food.
"WFP is consulting with its partner non-governmental organisations and government authorities about the new policy directive. We are reviewing this new directive and seeking clarification," Clemens said.
Recent food security reports say the Zimbabwe government has virtually no food stocks of its own, and is unable to carry out its own famine relief operations.
Last year there were widespread reports by aid agencies and human rights organisations that the regime deliberately withheld famine relief supplies from pro-opposition areas to force them to support President Robert Mugabe's ruling party.
"The government should not be allowed anywhere need food distribution," said Renson Gasela, agriculture shadow MP for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
"The idea is to hijack donor food and use it as a campaign for council elections, scheduled for the end of this month”.
Western donors immediately protested against the directive, with a British official here making clear it had no intention of complying.
"Humanitarian assistance from the British government is apolitical, targeted on the basis of need alone," said British high commission spokesperson Sophie Honey.
"This is a fundamental principle for us".
"We are satisfied with the way (international) humanitarian assistance was distributed last year," said a spokesperson for the US embassy here.
Officials from other Western governments went little further than saying they were "seeking clarification" from the regime over the directive.
However, Western diplomats ruled out any possibility of letting the government handle the distribution of their food.
"We saw what happened with the government's food distribution last year," said one diplomat.
"We don't want to see that happen with ours this year".
Another said: "We will try and find a way through this, because we are committed to food aid. But we will not allow our principle of no government interference to be flouted".
The UN maintains a firm policy all over the world that it runs famine relief operations without the involvement of the government's where it operates, to avoid corruption and abuse of food aid.
The UN said last week that 3,3-million Zimbabweans were in "urgent need" of food. At some distribution points, people were so hungry they were eating raw maize as soon as it was given to them.
The independent Daily News today quoted Welfare Minister July Moyo as saying: "No international donor can tell us that the government should not be involved in food distribution, when we are the ones who asked for it".
In June last year, ruling party militias seized UN food stocks in a remote area in Western Zimbabwe, immediately before a by- election was due to be held, and issued food to anyone who could present a ruling party membership card.
The WFP says that this was the only case in which the Zimbabwean government abused UN food operations, but human rights organisations and independent food aid agencies say it has become official policy during the last two years of famine for the regime to issue food in rural areas at polling stations during elections, only to ruling party supporters.
International organisations including the UN and the International Monetary Fund say that the main cause of the famine is Mugabe's reckless economic policies and his purge of white commercial farmers from their farms. – Sapa-DPA.
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