Posted on 12/28/2004 1:18:24 PM PST by flitton
Harare - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has taken his family on a month-long annual holiday to Malaysia despite the loss of life caused by Sunday's disastrous tsunami wave, which devastated resorts there and along the coasts of many nations bordering the Indian Ocean.
State radio reported on Tuesday the 80-year-old head of state and his delegation were seen off at Harare airport by vice-presidents Joseph Msika and Joyce Mujuru and members of his elite policy-making body, the Politburo.
Mugabe, who formed a close friendship with former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamed, has vowed to develop economic, political and tourism ties with Asia to replace those lost with the West over his controversial human rights record.
Fresh parliamentary elections are scheduled for Zimbabwe in March, from which western observers have been banned, and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change is considering a boycott.
Crucial constitutional referendum
Meanwhile, food shortages are already reported in outlying rural areas, with stocks reported far below the "bumper" 2.4m tonne grain harvest Mugabe has repeatedly claimed.
Plantings for the 2004-2005 season were said by a cabinet committee to be a mere 8.2 percent of the 4m-hectare target due to shortage of tractors and other vital inputs.
Since Mugabe lost a crucial constitutional referendum in February 2000, he has seized 5 000 white-owned commercial farms, leading to a dramatic crash in production.
Critics led by Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo accuse him of using food as a political weapon to secure election victory.
Too bad he didn't vacation in Malasysia.
On a beach. A few days ago.
That man is both pathetic and a monster.
Semper Disgusted
He is 80? Pretty old...This would be a great time to get rid of him and free Zimbabwe...The people there need to rise up and revolt now, before they are starving to death.
Ya beat me to it. Guess his private airplane (aka Air Zimbabwe's fleet) was busy for the Christmas rush...
Heck, those were the things that helped him make up his mind! He might even take a side trip to Thailand to see all those dead Europeans on the beaches--that would make Mugabe giddy.
If there was one teeny tiny, very localised aftershock it could still happen...
Sometimes I wonder if he is setting up his place of refuge there.
He knows Kofi is coming with cash, and he'll be the beneficiary of quite a bit of it.
He should have been under the tsunami.
Mugabe needs to be in a nice little jail cell for life.
No entertainment and nothing to do, but contemplate
what he has done in his life.
<< Plantings for the 2004-2005 season were said by a cabinet committee to be a mere 8.2 percent of the 4m-hectare target due to shortage of [White Men]. >>
Merry Christmas, Brian! PS your tagline's delightful.
Merry Christmas to you, By -- and to all of those you love.
My tag line is a gift from my Father, a Jewish Carpenter.
All Y'All have a wonderful, happy, healthy and prosperous 2005, too, you hear!?
With love and fellowship and blessings -- Brian
I can't disagree with you, sorry to say.
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