Mugabe's Governor Bans Aid Organisation From Operating In His Area

Gideon Gono and Robert Mugabe are seen here examining farming aid (tractors, seed, fertiliser and so on) that Mugabe used to dish out to farmers through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Now one his Governors in the rural areas of Zimbabwe says he has banned an Aid organisation for assisting people he says are from opposition parties. What is good for the goose, it appears, is not good for the gender!

Harare, Zimbabwe, 28 November 2009

Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) has been banned from operating in the gold mining area of Mazowe in Harare by Advocate Dihna, a ZANU PF Provincial Governor, on the ground that they were interfering in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe.

This is normally a clue that the organisation was sensitizing people to their democratic and human rights.

Ironically, DAPP originally helped ZANU PF freedom fighters and refugees in Mozambique during the liberation struggle of the 1970s. They provided assistance aid to help refugees become self-sufficient and also  helped Mugabe's guerillas with their needs and welfare. 

Now Mugabe has banned them from operating in one of his strongholds.

"We stopped DAPP’s operations in Mazowe recently because their agencies on the ground were politicising their assistance.

"No government can allow its citizens to be discriminated against for their political affiliation. If they discriminate we have no problem in stopping you from operating," said Advocate Dinha this last week.

The implication, obviously, is that they were offering assistance to opposition supporters. But ZANU PF looks after its own and gives assistance to its own supporters who are in dire straits, while actively excluding those identified as opposition supporters.

Consequently, the opposition supporters are evidently in need when the aid agencies arrive on the ground and they naturally give to those without.

Mugabe does not like this one bit, because it shows the people who are against him in the rural areas that they can survive without his patronage and that of his party.

He would rather they suffer heavily until they "repent" and learn the lesson that if they do not support him they will suffer materially and even die from hunger.

This is the real reason why DAPP has been banned.

It simply goes to show, I suppose, why Mugabe is so keen to ensure that he keeps his governors in place and why Tsvangirai is keen to get his own men into these positions.

In the rural areas, the governors have the capacity to ensure that organisations seen as biased towards one party or the other are banned. If Tsvangirai was to be allowed to put his own people in there, then they could also work on the rural areas to ensure that the MDC gets a strong foothold in these traditional ZANU PF strongholds.

It makes the likelihood of the issue being resolved to the satisfaction of the MDC even more remote.

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