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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Mugabe accuses aid agencies of working against him |
| 2008-06-16 |
| Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has accused foreign aid agencies of using food as a weapon to try to remove him from power and will investigate their operations, state media reported on Monday. Mugabe, whose government ordered aid agencies to stop work on June 4, has himself been accused by Western countries and human rights groups of using food as a political tool ahead a June 27 presidential election re-run. The state-controlled Herald newspaper said Mugabe told a rally on Sunday that in the absence of the agencies, his government would strive to provide food aid, badly needed in a once prosperous country that now faces economic collapse. Mugabe said aid agencies had worked against his ZANU-PF in March 29 elections, when the ruling party lost its majority in parliament and opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential ballot -- but without the majority needed to avoid a run-off, according to official results. "Food aid is needed and the government is focusing on that. That is a need the NGOs exploited, saying 'we are feeding you, so do not vote for ZANU-PF, vote for the MDC'," Mugabe said, referring to the non-governmental organisations. |
| Posted by:Fred |