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Who is fooling who…land reallocation unexplained
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
Extracted from Crisis in Zimbabwe Weekly Update
May 31-June 06, 2004

The accusations and in-fighting between some settlers led by the war veterans and some government officials over allegations that the state was clandestinely giving back land to some selected white commercials farmers remained fully unexplained to date.

The war veterans and the settlers alleged that they were receiving withdrawal letters from an official in the office of the Minister of Special Affairs in the President’s Office Responsible for Land and Resettlement John Nkomo. But this was flatly denied. The confusion goes to show the lack of transparency that characterised the land reform exercise.

It seems the government has realised that some of the people who were given the land have failed to be productive while the settlers feel they were abused for political expediency. The only proper thing to do is to execute the process lawfully and transparently in the interest of the people involved without jeopardising the country.

Ill treatment of mothers by hospital authorities unacceptable. The detention of 28 mothers and their babies at the government-run Harare Central Hospital is unacceptable to all peace-loving citizens because it violates their fundamental rights to free health as underprivileged poor black women.

In the interest of justice and fair play, the Coalition urges the government to take stern measures against authorities for abusing the custodians of the country's future and strength. Besides this unacceptable and inhuman misconduct by the hospital authorities, the incident has exposed the collapse of Zimbabwe’s social and particularly health delivery systems. In any developing country, Zimbabwe included, the state has an obligation to protect the rights of the underprivileged especially women who have been at the receiving end for centuries, of both patriarchal and institutional oppression. The government should come up with clear policies that make it mandatory for public health institutions to treat women, especially underprivileged ones, freely.

The State must pay the fees as part of its social obligations. The detention of the 28 women can also be seen as discrimination against the women, which is unlawful, as it seemingly absolves their husbands from responsibility. The decision also violated the rights of these babies who became victims of an insensitive hospital institution coupled with a failed government policy.

The decision also smacks of short sightedness on the part of the authorities, who after realising the women’s inability to settle their bills insist on them incurring more costs. Again this says a lot about the calibre of people Zimbabwe now has at the helm of these critical institutions. Integrity is a quality that is quickly disappearing from the country’s public institutions.

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