Regards, Ivan
Flag of Rhodesia
Posted on 12/04/2002 3:14:50 PM PST by MadIvan
THE population of Zimbabwe has gone into sharp decline as a result of Aids-related deaths and the mass migration of people fleeing the country’s economic devastation and acute shortage of food.
Preliminary returns from a census conducted in August suggest that 11.6 million people live in the country, compared with previous government estimates of 14.5 million.
The findings have raised fears that an acute shortage of labour will severely constrain the country’s ability to revive the agricultural sector, which collapsed after the seizure of most white commercial farms by the Government of President Mugabe. The devastation in farming has been made worse by a severe drought. Less than half of the 20 million acres of agricultural land commandeered from whites since February 2000 is being tilled by black settlers, despite government pledges of subsidies.
Dr John Makumbe, of the department of public administration at the University of Zimbabwe, said that the census returns were frightful, and added: “It essentially means the economy cannot support the 11.6 million people who are still in the country, especially after the devastation of the agricultural sector.”
South Africa says that two million Zimbabweans have migrated illegally south of the Limpopo River border. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) estimates that 600,000 Zimbabweans have fled to Britain, which imposed strict visa requirements last month to check the influx of refugees.
John Robertson, an economist, said that emigration and deaths from Aids-related diseases were destroying the most economically valuable section of the population. United Nations health experts said the famine that threatens 6.7 million Zimbabweans will accelerate the number of Aids-related deaths. In a speech to mark World Aids Day on Saturday, Mr Mugabe said that 2.2 million Zimbabweans were living with the disease and there were 700,000 Aids orphans. Cemeteries are running out of space to bury an estimated 300 victims each day.
Mr Robertson said that the census called into question the official results of presidential elections held in March, in which Mr Mugabe claimed victory. He said that the census figures constituted “irrefutable proof of fraud”.
He said that to achieve a turnout of 5.2 million voters, as claimed by the ruling Zanu (PF) party, the country would need a population of 17 million. Postal ballots were banned and strict proof of residence was required. More than half Zimbabwe’s population is under 18, the minimum voting age. Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC’s presidential candidate, remains barred from inspecting constituency rolls.
The country experienced significant population growth, from seven million at the time of independence in 1980 to 10.4 million at the 1992 census. Had the same rate been maintained, the population would have risen above 15 million. The economy has collapsed and there is no prospect of recovery. The International Monetary Fund predicts inflation at 522 per cent next year.
Surveys show that family sizes are shrinking, with greater use of contraception and resistance by women to polygamous relationships because of the Aids risk. On Tuesday, urban housewives protested outside shops to show their anger at the lack of bread, maize meal, cooking oil, salt and other staples. “They cannot feed their families,” Trudy Stevenson, an MDC MP, said.
Regards, Ivan
Flag of Rhodesia
Precious few, I'll bet -- even though they lived in the same country with the poor Zimbians who sadly are dying in droves....
Gee, and who is responsible for this inflation? The Mugabe government, which must be printing currency like it is going out of style, of course.... the very same folks who brought the country to an agricultural failure and famine.
I submit that the currency inflation and the food shortages in Zimbabwe are not a coincidence; they are both the consequence of intentional actions taken by the government, to the detriment of the citizens of the country.
*****
Sounds more like a FLU epidemic could do that...
Close, Lads: looks like cholera has come to play....
Hmmm, 300 AIDS-related deaths a day, whether from the weakened condition of starving patients, or opportunistic infections and deaths resulting from unchecked cholera, typhoid and other *little problems* Zimbabwe is suffering. But 300 daily works out to around 109,500 annually, about 4 times the 2500 AIDS deaths/year reported previously.
Another decade, and it looks like the problems in Zim will be long over....
-archy-/-
Oh well...a guy can dream, can't he?
Every single thing that the liberals claimed would happen when "democracy" came to zim has not happened. And every single thing that Smith warned about has since come to pass.
It must be a very bitter thing for Ian to watch what has befallen his beautiful nation.
More like the Nobel Peace Prize list. That warped committee probably applauds Mugabe for routing out those racist White farmers.
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