{"id":1764,"date":"2018-04-03T07:40:54","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T07:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wozazim.org\/?p=1764"},"modified":"2018-04-03T07:51:20","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T07:51:20","slug":"woza-moya-newsletter-october-2008-english-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/?p=1764","title":{"rendered":"Woza Moya Newsletter \u2013 October 2008 \u2013 English edition"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

Indira Gandhi once said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Was she talking about Zanu PF?<\/p>\n

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE TO:

\n1.\tPRINCIPALS: Robert Mugabe\/Arthur Mutambara\/Morgan Tsvangirai
\n2.\tMediation Team led by Thabo Mbeki
\n3.\tSouthern African Development Community Chairman\/President South Africa Kgalema Motlanthe
\n4.\tAfrican Union Chairman\/ Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Dear Sirs,
WE DECLARE A NATIONAL DISASTER AND DEMAND FOOD FOR ALL ZIMBABWEANS <\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

You all signed an agreement on 15 September 2008 with lots of taxpayer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s money being used to feed all the delegates. Now you are meeting again and spending lots of money feeding the same people all over again, they sleep with full stomachs while our children starve. You said this was an \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAfrican solution to African problems\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 but Africans are dying slow and painful deaths through starvation. You wrote in your deal that you were gravely concerned but these were empty words. Today we have lost patience. We demand FOOD, SEED and FERTILISER; this is now a national disaster. Zimbabweans both in rural areas and in the city are starving, the rains are coming but we have nothing to plant. <\/p>\n

In the agreement preamble it states that you are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153CONCERNED about the well-being of our people\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. THESE WORDS ARE EMPTY JUST LIKE OUR STOMACHS.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

You said you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ACKNOWLEDGE the sacrifices made by thousands of Zimbabwe\u2019s gallant sons and daughters in the fight against colonialism and racial discrimination and determined to accept, cherish and recognise the significance of the Liberation Struggle as the foundation of our sovereign independence, freedoms and human rights.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n

IS STARVATION THE WAY YOU ACKNOWLEDGE OUR SACRIFICES? WHEN WILL YOU SACRIFICE POWER FOR THE LOVE OF THE SUFFERING PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE?<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

You agreed \u00e2\u20ac\u0153COMMITTING ourselves to putting our people and our country first by arresting the fall in living standards and reversing the decline of our economy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

You have put yourselves first and us last! Inflation is in the billions, the economy has collapsed. We are being told to buy food in Rand currency and yet we live in Zimbabwe. Even if we have money in the bank, we cannot get cash and it is even more impossible for us to get foreign currency. What happened to your commitment? Did Police misunderstand the word \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcarrest\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and put \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcLiving standards\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in jail thinking it is the name of an opposition activist?<\/p>\n

You said \u00e2\u20ac\u0153RESPECTING the rights of all Zimbabweans regardless of political affiliation to benefit from and participate in all national programmes and events freely without let or hindrance.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

We are therefore demanding a national food relief programme. How many more Zimbabweans must die before you act? We are human beings needing a balanced diet and cannot survive on green vegetables like animals. We have lost patience with your kind of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAfrican solution\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. THIS IS A NATIONAL DISASTER AND WE DEMAND FOOD FOR ALL ZIMBABWEANS NOW.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

Woza Moya
\nSigned by WOZA members for the people of Zimbabwe<\/p>\n

P.S. If Police officers arrest us or beat us as we make our demand, you must take it as another sign of your empty promises for a violence free Zimbabwe and an unfortunate African solution to silence and disrespect citizens.<\/p>\n

\t\t \n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indira Gandhi once said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Was she talking about Zanu PF? AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE TO: 1. PRINCIPALS: Robert Mugabe\/Arthur Mutambara\/Morgan Tsvangirai 2. Mediation Team led by Thabo Mbeki 3. Southern African Development Community Chairman\/President South Africa Kgalema Motlanthe 4. African Union Chairman\/ … Continue reading Woza Moya Newsletter \u2013 October 2008 \u2013 English edition<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1835,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764\/revisions\/1835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}