AFRICA/ZIMBABWE- Zimbabwe: as the economy collapses operation to discredit people who oppose the government continues

Harare (Agenzia Fides) - Inflation, drought, unsuccessful government policies continue to worsen the economic situation of Zimbabwe. After enforcing a 50% cut in prices of prime necessities (see Fides 4 and 13 July 2007), President Robert Mugabe presented parliament with a law to nationalise all foreign businesses in Zimbabwe, a measure which, if adopted, would isolate the country from the international community even further.
Price control has made prime necessities almost impossible to find especially in rural areas. The result of set prices for meat was that while meat disappeared from the shelves in shops, at double the price it was available on the black market.
The meat shortage is due to the fact that since the government redistributed the property of 4,000 farms owned by whites of European origin, the number of cattle dropped from 1.4 million heads in 2000 to 250,000 today.
To face the food emergency Zimbabwe decided to import 200,000 tons of maize from Tanzania and another 200,000 from Malawi. According to the United Natrions Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO one third of Zimbabwe's population of 4 million need food aid.
Local experts say the policy of halving food prices will be short lived because the benefits for Zimbabweans weighed down by inflation 4.500% (9.000%, according to unofficial figures), only lasted a few days. Whereas some shops keepers, (some were arrested for not halving the prices) went bankrupt and have been forced to close. These have joined the already millions of unemployed.
In the meantime the campaign to discredit people who oppose the government, continues. One of these people is the Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Archbishop Pius Ncube, about whom defamatory rumours are being circulated.
According to CISA news agency in Nairobi, Kenya, the Archbishop has the support of the Southern African Bishops' Conference which affirmed in a statement “the citizens of Zimbabwe and the international community will let these assertions distract them from their efforts to find solutions to the serious problems in that country at this moment”. Several human rights associations in Zimbabwe also expressed solidarity with Archbishop Ncube, one of the principal critics of the regime. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said the accusations against Archbishop Ncube were nothing more than "tactics” to distract people's attention from the country's real problems. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/7/2007 righe 40 parole 490)