Mugabe Claims Cholera ‘Erased’, World Leaders Express Outrage
Related subjects: Africa, Diplomacy & Politics, Health Science, Humanitarian Crisis, J.E. Robertson Comments (1)
Zimbabwe’s embattled president Robert Mugabe, whose critics charge he is illegally clinging to power after losing this year’s presidential vote, angered foreign governments and medical workers by claiming that his country had “erased” the cholera epidemic that has killed 800 since August. Mugabe claimed that Britain and the US were conspiring to invade his country using cholera as a pretext but that his government had “arrested” the spread of cholera and removed the pretext.
At least one South African Anglican bishop, Joe Seoka, compared Mugabe to Hitler, accusing him of creating mass death and suffering under his leadership. South Africa has seen a steady influx of cholera victims, refugees from Zimbabwe desperately seeking medical treatment. Due to a faltering economy and troubled political infrastructure, the medical system in Zimbabwe has collapsed, with hospitals closing and staff unavailable, due to non-existent funding.
The World Health Organization reported this week that over 16,000 people are confirmed infected, and over 800 killed so far in the worst cholera epidemic the country has seen in decades. Hospitals in the north of South African say they can no longer handle the number of cases streaming across the border, though they are doing their best to treat those infected. There is mounting concern the outbreak will spread into South Africa and Mozambique.
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A spokesman for Mugabe has said the president was speaking with “sarcasm” yesterday, when he insinuated that the cholera epidemic was being used by foreign governments as a pretext to unseat him from power. The regime now claims the comments were intended to bring to light what Mugabe calls efforts to “recolonize” Zimbabwe, and that serious efforts are being made to fight the cholera outbreak.
Mugabe’s critics say he is directly responsible for the nation’s collapsing agricultural sector and breathtaking economic unraveling. With inflation estimated in the millions of percent per year —the last official estimate was in July, at 231 million %—, Zimbabwe has now released a Z$500 million bill, worth about US$10. The Z$100 million bill was introduced only last week, as the government struggles to keep pace with out-of-control hyper-inflation.
Due to currency shortages, cash can now only be withdrawn once a week from banks. Ordinary people can take out Z$50 million a week while companies are permitted to withdraw Z$100 million.
Winding queues in banks are commonplace in Zimbabwe as people take hours to withdraw money which is still not enough to see them through the day, while others sleep outside banks to get money the next day.
The irregular value of all goods and services is now so pervasive that banks are virtually unable to operate and businesses cannot fund inventory or personnel. With prices rising literally several times per day, normal business relationships are nearly impossible to establish, and the government is forced to print money at staggering rates, contributing to the inflation spiral.
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[...] Mugabe Claims Cholera ‘Erased’, World Leaders Express Outrage … Mugabe claimed that Britain and the US were conspiring to invade his country using cholera as a pretext but that his government had “arrested” the spread of cholera and removed the pretext. At least one South African Anglican bishop, … [...]