Derrick
03-11-05, 16:02
U.S. envoy blames Mugabe for crisis
Thursday, November 3, 2005; Posted: 7:31 a.m. EST (12:31 GMT)
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- The United States ambassador to Zimbabwe, in his strongest criticism yet of Harare, has said that gross mismanagement and corrupt rule by President Robert Mugabe's government have plunged the country into crisis.
The remarks by Christopher Dell follow a diplomatic dispute last month when he was briefly detained by the Presidential Guard after straying into a secure area near Mugabe's residence.
Zimbabwe is battling its most severe economic downturn since independence from Britain in 1980, marked by one of the highest inflation rates in the world, unemployment above 70 percent and shortages of fuel, food and foreign currency.
Critics fault Mugabe's controversial seizures of land from white farmers to redistribute among blacks for causing for food shortages since 2001, but the veteran leader says drought instead is responsible for the shortages.
"Neither drought nor sanctions are at the root of Zimbabwe's decline," Dell said in a speech presented in the eastern city of Mutare on Wednesday but made available to Reuters on Thursday.
"The Zimbabwe government's own gross mismanagement of the economy and its corrupt rule has brought on the crisis," said Dell in the speech titled "Plain Talk About Zimbabwe's Economy."
State media reported last month that Dell was briefly detained by the Presidential Guard after entering a restricted area at the National Botanic Gardens near Mugabe's official residence in Harare.
The government said Dell was lucky not have been killed and had sent a letter of protest to the U.S. embassy. In turn the embassy said the ambassador had accepted apologies from two senior Zimbabwe foreign affairs officials over the incident.
Relations between the U.S. and Zimbabwe have soured in recent years with Washington accusing Mugabe's government of human rights abuses and rigging elections since 2000.
Dell said the U.S. would maintain travel and financial sanctions on Mugabe's top leadership until there are changes in Harare's policies, but added that private firms "that are not connected to the regime leaders are free to do business with American firms."
He said the rule of law was in shambles and charged that Mugabe's top officials owned multiple farms after a controversial government policy of distributing white-owned farms to landless blacks. Dell said recent amendments to the constitution that effectively nationalized all seized farms would scare potential investors.
"Nothing rattles investor confidence more than the prospect of expropriation," he said. "The constitutional amendment striking down the right to redress for victims of land expropriation sent a shockwave through the community of investors who keep an eye on the climate in Zimbabwe."
Mugabe, aged 81 and the southern African nation's sole ruler since 1980, rejects accusations of bringing the economy to its knees and instead says it has fallen victim to sabotage by Western powers, including the United States, who are punishing him for his land seizure drive.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.
Thursday, November 3, 2005; Posted: 7:31 a.m. EST (12:31 GMT)
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- The United States ambassador to Zimbabwe, in his strongest criticism yet of Harare, has said that gross mismanagement and corrupt rule by President Robert Mugabe's government have plunged the country into crisis.
The remarks by Christopher Dell follow a diplomatic dispute last month when he was briefly detained by the Presidential Guard after straying into a secure area near Mugabe's residence.
Zimbabwe is battling its most severe economic downturn since independence from Britain in 1980, marked by one of the highest inflation rates in the world, unemployment above 70 percent and shortages of fuel, food and foreign currency.
Critics fault Mugabe's controversial seizures of land from white farmers to redistribute among blacks for causing for food shortages since 2001, but the veteran leader says drought instead is responsible for the shortages.
"Neither drought nor sanctions are at the root of Zimbabwe's decline," Dell said in a speech presented in the eastern city of Mutare on Wednesday but made available to Reuters on Thursday.
"The Zimbabwe government's own gross mismanagement of the economy and its corrupt rule has brought on the crisis," said Dell in the speech titled "Plain Talk About Zimbabwe's Economy."
State media reported last month that Dell was briefly detained by the Presidential Guard after entering a restricted area at the National Botanic Gardens near Mugabe's official residence in Harare.
The government said Dell was lucky not have been killed and had sent a letter of protest to the U.S. embassy. In turn the embassy said the ambassador had accepted apologies from two senior Zimbabwe foreign affairs officials over the incident.
Relations between the U.S. and Zimbabwe have soured in recent years with Washington accusing Mugabe's government of human rights abuses and rigging elections since 2000.
Dell said the U.S. would maintain travel and financial sanctions on Mugabe's top leadership until there are changes in Harare's policies, but added that private firms "that are not connected to the regime leaders are free to do business with American firms."
He said the rule of law was in shambles and charged that Mugabe's top officials owned multiple farms after a controversial government policy of distributing white-owned farms to landless blacks. Dell said recent amendments to the constitution that effectively nationalized all seized farms would scare potential investors.
"Nothing rattles investor confidence more than the prospect of expropriation," he said. "The constitutional amendment striking down the right to redress for victims of land expropriation sent a shockwave through the community of investors who keep an eye on the climate in Zimbabwe."
Mugabe, aged 81 and the southern African nation's sole ruler since 1980, rejects accusations of bringing the economy to its knees and instead says it has fallen victim to sabotage by Western powers, including the United States, who are punishing him for his land seizure drive.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.