'Zim will run out of food'
2004-06-26 18:45
Bulawayo - A prominent Zimbabwean Roman Catholic archbishop warned on Saturday that his countrymen would soon start dying of starvation and accused the government of lying about the level of foodstocks.
Speaking at a service to mark United Nations Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Pius Ncube, Archbishop of Zimbabwe's second city Bulwayo, also said "lots" of Zimbabweans had been tortured to death.
"We will have people perishing because of a government that tells lies," Ncube, an outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe's government, told some 2 000 people gathered in a Bulawayo cathedral for a special service.
"The people have no food. I have been to a couple of places this week. I have been to Lupane, Tsholotsho, Plumtree and Beitbridge (in southern Zimbabwe) and the people say that they will run out of food by the end of August," said Ncube.
On Friday, the government repeated its earlier claims that it expected a bumper maize harvest of 2.4m tons, which it said was sufficient to meet local needs.
It said it would not need food aid from donor nationss, which last year fed some six million Zimbabweans, who are already grappling with sky-high inflation, a crippling unemployment rate and occasional fuel shortages.
The government's optimistic food forecasts have been disputed by independent analysts and the opposition.
During the two-hour long service, choirs sang hymns in Zimbabwe's different languages - Shona, Ndebele and English - while members of the congregation lit candles in memory of torture victims.
"We have lots of people in this country who have been tortured and they have left everything to God," Ncube said. "But as Christians we have to stand up to torture."
Opposition groups and non-governmental organisations in politically tense Zimbabwe allege that supporters of Mugabe's party have used torture against government opponents over the last four years.