Zimbabwe's Mugabe: Vote for us or starve

March 26, 2005

In a land of four million people where roughly one fourth of the population faces danger of hunger, opposition party supporters are receiving a harsh message from government run emergency food stations in the run up to Thursday's election: Vote for Mugabe, or starve.

As two British newspapers reported four days before general elections, Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe is using food as a political weapon in a country dominated by scarcity.

The government food distribution agency is the only source for something to eat for vast numbers of Zimbabweans today. Determined to destroy opposition parties, Mugabe and his supporters seek to prevent anyone who supports the opposition from receiving rations.