Zimbabwe has asked for international assistance, saying more than 25 percent of its population is starving while an extravagant 92nd birthday party planned Feb. 21 by President Robert Mugabe is provoking anger, IBTimes reported.
Mugabe last week declared a state of disaster, blaming Zimbabwe’s food shortages on the El Nino weather pattern that is causing drought in southern Africa.
The United Nations World Food Program responded, saying it was preparing to increase food distribution in Zimbabwe, according to David Orr, WFP communications officer for southern Africa.
Zimbabwean opposition voices denounced the plan to throw an extravagant party in the drought-stricken Masvingo province — one of the hardest hit — during a crisis, Newsday reported Jan. 18.
Zanu PF Secretary of Finance Obert Mpofu declined to comment on the banquet, referring questions to National Youth Finance Secretary Tongai Kasukuwere.
Party insiders who spoke on condition of anonymity said the birthday celebrations were expected to cost $770,000, according to Newsday.
“The event is being organised by the Youth League and they (are) handling all the fundraising and the budget,” Mpofu said.
The host province — Masvingo — was told to raise $100,000 for Mugabe’s birthday bash despite facing acute food shortages, Newsday reported. Most villagers are surviving on wild fruit and over 5,000 cattle have died from the drought.
The other nine Zimbabwean provinces are expected to raise $30,000 each, while the national team headed by Zanu PF Youth League secretary Pupurayi Togarepi must raise $400,000.
Zimbabwe may have the greatest number of dams, rivers and other water sources of all countries in Southern Africa, but some lie dormant or need rehabilitation, said Chimimba David Phiri, Southern Africa coordinator with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, IBTimes reported.
The U.N. has demanded that Mugabe’s administration invest in irrigation to avert persistent food shortages. Governments should encourage conservation agriculture so their citizens are less vulnerable to weather changes, Phiri said.
Zimbabwe has been a net importer of food since the early 2000s. Rising unemployment and a weakening economy have made access to food hard for many people.
“We realize that quite a number have fallen into the drought situation … for the 2016 (season) and we believe that almost 2.4 million — 26 percent of our population — are food insecure,” said Zimbabwe’s public works minister, Saviour Kasukuwere.
Opposition parties and political analysts said Mugabe’s planned party confirmed that Zanu PF leadership is not concerned with the welfare of its people.
“This is not surprising to us, but disappointing given the level of starvation our people are going through,” said Obert Gutu, spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T) party. “It’s painful that Zanu PF wants to spend such a huge amount of money on a nonagenarian leader who has led this country into this calamity.”
There is nothing wrong with celebrating the birthday of a leader — life is precious, said analyst Alexander Rusero. “But who knows, maybe President Mugabe will spring a surprise and channel some of the proceeds towards alleviating hunger and starvation in Masvingo,” he said. “It’s too early to judge and pre-empt. Mugabe is a man of surprises.”
