Earlier this week, Robert Mugabe, dictator of Zimbabwe, declared the cholera epidemic sweeping his country halted, although aid workers say that the situation has worsened. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the outbreak has not been contained and, as of mid-December, 2008, the death toll has increased to 978 people with 18,413 suspected cases. They go on to warn that the total number of cases could reach 60,000 unless the epidemic is stopped.
Cholera in Zimbabwe - August to November 2008
Using xenophobic misdirection tactics, Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu described the outbreak as a “genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British”. However, US ambassador James McGee blamed the outbreak on Zimbabwe’s political crisis and the failed economic policies of its government. He told reporters in Washington that hospitals in Harare remained closed, there was no rubbish collection and people were drinking from sewers.
There should be no doubt now that Mugabe must go. He is a danger to the people of Zimbabwe and, as the epidemic spreads, a danger to Southern Africa.
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