No to British Media and Government Disinformation about Zimbabwe!

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No to British Media and Government Disinformation about Zimbabwe!

During the last week the media has carried reports criticising the government of Zimbabwe for its policy on food production and distribution as well as other economic problems facing that country. There has been a particular attempt to continue to demonise the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, who recently announced that reliance on aid from the World Food Programme could be ended, since there were more needy countries in the world and Zimbabwe’s agricultural production would this year be sufficient to feed its population. The BBC, for example, carried television news reports that, while purporting to be unbiased accounts, openly accused the government of Zimbabwe of an organised attempt to starve its own people, allegedly for political purposes.

What is of particular concern about such reporting is that it is clearly a political exercise, propaganda, designed not to enlighten people but to present a particular message without any regard for the facts. It might be asked why the media is so concerned about focusing on one particular country, when at the present time food shortages, due to drought and other factors, affect over 14.4 million people throughout southern Africa, not just those in Zimbabwe? In this context it might be thought that an unbiased media might wish to congratulate a government that was predicting improved harvests and announcing an end to dependence on foreign donors. Indeed according to reports from the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET), the problem in Zimbabwe is not so much connected with its cereal harvest and reserve stocks, which even FEWSNET predicts are likely to improve this year, but rather more with the dire economic situation in the country, particularly inflation which although decreasing currently stands at nearly 600%. The economic situation is compounded by the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic which is also affecting other countries in the region, and which affects over a third of Zimbabwe’s population.

Zimbabwe’s agricultural problems also stem from the legacy of British colonial rule, the main features of which were the appropriation of the land for the benefit of European settlers, and the ruthless exploitation and racist oppression of the indigenous population. But the media are altogether silent about this history and the reactionary role played by British governments both in the past and currently in regard to the land issue and Zimbabwe’s economic problems. It is a fact that the current Labour government has done everything possible to isolate Zimbabwe internationally, attack its government and president and interfere in its internal economic and political affairs, including Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections, just as if Zimbabwe were still a British colony.

The present campaign of disinformation about Zimbabwe is a repetition of similar campaigns in the past. It is designed to create all the conditions for the continuation of the attacks on Zimbabwe’s government and interference in its internal affairs in the run up to the elections that are likely be held in Zimbabwe next year. Such disinformation by the monopoly-controlled media has become commonplace and shows the necessity for the workers to build their own media, one which speaks with their voice and in their interests.