Mugabe warns against interference under pretext of aid

President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday warned humanitarian groups working in Zimbabwe not to interfere in the country's internal affairs. Addressing the official opening of the country's third session of parliament, which was boycotted by opposition legislators, Mugabe said aid was welcome but his government was wary of some organisations which he alleged were out to undermine his government. More than six million people are in need of food aid. The United Nation's has appealed for US $285 million to help Zimbabwe survive the worst food shortage in 50 years. "While Zimbabwe accepts drought-related assistance from the international community, we remain quite wary of countries and organisations which seek to take advantage of our hour of need to attenuate our sovereignty or even reverse those vital policies we have adopted as a sovereign people," Mugabe told parliament. "Yes we need food assistance from organisations and nations of goodwill. But we certainly abhor sinister interests which seek surreptitiously to advance themselves under cover of humanitarian involvement," he warned. But Mugabe addressed only members of the ruling party as the opposition's 55 MPs walked out of the chamber before his 40-minute address began. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has refused to recognise Mugabe's legitimacy, accusing him of resorting to violence to win last March's hotly disputed presidential election. Outside Parliament, police maintained a heavy presence after a civic group, the National Constitutional Assembly, had planned to stage a protest during Mugabe's address. The demonstration, however, failed to materialise. Mugabe said his government would do all it could to feed its people, who are facing starvation as a result of a combination of drought and Zimbabwe's chaotic land reform programme. "No effort will be spared in ensuring that enough food is secured. We fight the present drought with our eyes clearly set on the future of the agricultural sector which is the mainstay of our economy. We dare not endanger its future through misplaced decisions based on acts of either desperation or expediency," Mugabe said. Zimbabwe's food crisis has become highly politicised, with the government claiming that the MDC had manufactured the shortages that have seen basic commodities disappear off shop shelves. Agriculture Minister Joseph Made this month accused millers of stock piling flour for speculative purposes. His statement followed allegations by the police that the opposition was engineering shortages to foment political unrest. The MDC has dismissed the allegations as "nonsense". Mugabe denied that his government had politicised food aid to strengthen its political support in the rural areas. He also said he would not sacrifice Zimbabwe's independence for humanitarian aid. "We reject any attempts to use the present drought relief effort to smuggle in failed and inappropriate IMF [International Monetary Fund] policies which we know to have exacerbated our vulnerability to the vagaries of nature and neo-colonial manipulation disguised as globalisation," he warned. Mugabe said his government would continue with its land reform programme in which 5,153 farms with a total area of 9.8 million hectares had been gazetted for resettlement by people from the over-crowded communal areas. Of these farms, 6.2 million hectares had been resettled by 210,520 households under the fast-track programme.