APPENDICES TO THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE
APPENDIX 1
Correspondence with the Secretaries of
State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International
Development
Letter from the Chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee to the Secretaries of State, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office and Department for International Development
Earlier this month, two Members of the Committee
met community leaders from Matabeleland, Zimbabwe, in the course
of one of our regular informal meetings with foreign visitors
and diplomats. Those who attended the meeting were so struck by
what they were told about the conditions under which the Matabele
were currently living and the strength of the leaders' testimony,
that they asked for copies of the, usually private, minutes of
the meeting to be sent to you, and the Secretary of State for
International Development.
The situation of those living in Zimbabwe is,
of course, well known to you, and to the Committee following its
two Reports on the country earlier this year. However, I hope
that these notes will be of some interest and use to you in re-emphasising
the terrible suffering and hardship currently being experienced
by the people of Zimbabwe, as a result of the actions of Robert
Mugabe's government.
For obvious reasons, we have been unable to
supply the names of the leaders at this stage but I would be happy
to send them to you, should you so wish.
Chairman
Foreign Affairs Committee
21 November 2002
Letter from the Secretary of State, Foreign
and Commonwealth Office to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee
Thank you for your letter of 21 November about
your meeting with a delegation from Zimbabwe.
The Ndebele delegation also had two separate
meetings in the FCO, with Baroness Amos and senior officials.
We were concerned to hear their report about the situation in
Matabeleland and the particular vulnerability they felt as Ndebele
people. There are reports of harassment of ZANU (PF) opponents
in nearly all Zimbabwe's provinces. But given the historical record
of ZANU (PF) in Matabeleland, we will keep a particularly close
eye on developments there.
The delegations' comments about ZANU (PF) withholding
food from Matabeleland came as no surprise. There is plenty of
evidence to indicate that ZANU (PF) is using food as a political
weapon. There are numerous, credible reports of food bought by
the state-controlled Grain Marketing Board being provided only
to people who can produce ruling party membership cards. By comparison,
international aid for Zimbabwe, of which the UK is the second
largest contributor, is closely monitored to ensure it reaches
people based on need.
Where the ruling party has tried to manipulate
international aid, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has acted.
For example, during a by-election in the Insiza District on 26-27
October, ZANIJ (PF) youths stole three metric tonnes of grain
from the WFP. As a result, the WFP suspended food distribution
in the district concerned.
Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
18 December 2002
Letter from the Secretary of State, Department
for International Development to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee
Thank you for your letter of 21 November, enclosing
the record of the Foreign Affairs Committee's meeting with Community
Leaders from Matabeleland on 6 November. Baroness Amos and FCO
officials also met the group while they were in London.
We are very aware of the historic tensions between
the Shona and Ndebele, and indeed the problems for the Tonga people
in Matabeleland North. The Tonga, like the Ndebele, voted against
the Mugabe regime and have been victimised for it.
But violence and intimidation is going on across
Zimbabwe and is directed at all those who oppose ZANU(PF). There
are many Shona victims too. We sympathise with natural Ndebele
fears for another Gukuruhundi, and are concerned about allegations
of Hutu militia being co-opted by ZANU(PF). But we have not seen
any evidence or reporting of this. Government will monitor this,
but it is important that any such allegations are verified if
possible by evidence of numbers and locations.
I very strongly agree that insufficient food
aid is reaching Zimbabwe in general—the WFP appeal is only
54% funded—but would strongly disagree that only ZANU-PF
supporters can access donor funded food aid. World Food Programme
support is being fairly distributed but is insufficient in quantity.
But the Government Grain Marketing Board activities which are
not donor funded, do seemed to be biased.
DFID has made every effort to ensure that bilateral
delivery systems and WFP programmes minimise the risk of politicisation.
Programmes are monitored closely and all complaints are followed
up carefully. To date this has been working well. We need to encourage
those with complaints to take them up with those managing programmes,
so that they can be checked out and rectified if problems are
confirmed.
We have been operating bilateral feeding programmes
in Matabeleland since September 2001, supporting supplementary
feeding of around 400,000 people, largely children, pregnant and
nursing women and the elderly. Working with the local organisations
ORAP and CADEC, we are working in Hwange, Tsholotsho, Bullilimamangwe,
Lupane, Umguza, Bubi, Gwanda, Beitbridge, and Nkayi, ie most districts
in Matabeleland North and South. We are pleased that Save the
Children has now been allowed to resume feeding 166,000 Tonga
people in Binga, in Matabeleland North.
Obviously we are working against the background
of the Government of Zimbabwe's politicisation of food aid. But
we cannot abandon the people of Zimbabwe whatever the difficulties.
We and the UN are working hard—with considerable success
to prevent UN programmes being misused but the Government of Zimbabwe's
programmes are being misused and this will lead to continuing
complaints and accusations—particularly whilst there is
insufficient food to go around. This is likely to become more
pronounced as the crisis deepens. The UN and donors are working
together to give strong political support and presence to minimise
the operation risks for NGOs who are the ones facing the day to
day challenge of helping vulnerable people. I am working to encourage
other countries to contribute to closing the food gap and helping
to feed those currently left out of programmes in Matabeleland,
and in other provinces in Zimbabwe.
Rt Hon Clare Short MP
Secretary of State
Department for International Development
December 2002
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