and only to ZANU-PF supporters. This maize was originally stocked by the local GMB distribution center.38 A senior GMB employee told Human Rights Watch that another program funded by the RBZ aimed at small-scale farmers—“Operation Maguta”—had mainly benefited the ZANU-PF elite.39 According to the GMB official, the seed and stock were also used to buy off war veterans before the March 29, 2008 elections. His claim was substantiated by several farmers in the provinces that Human Rights Watch visited. Farmers and villagers said that the army was put in charge of distributing the program’s seed and fertilizer even though, according to agricultural experts, AGRITEX is qualified to do so.40 Villagers said that instead of distributing the seed and stock to farmers, the army supplied ZANU-PF politicians, who sold them at exorbitant prices on the black market. In its earlier report on the March 29 elections, Human Rights Watch raised concerns about discriminatory practices in the distribution of state-subsidized maize by the GMB. The Health Crisis The Cholera Outbreak The cholera outbreak that started in August 2008 exposed the true decline of healthcare in Zimbabwe. Between 1985 and 1992 no cases of death from cholera were reported in Zimbabwe.41 Since 1992, as the health and sanitation infrastructure has deteriorated in Zimbabwe, there have been an increasing number of outbreaks. However, deaths from cholera had typically been few, as mortality can be prevented through simple treatment— oral, or in severe cases, intravenous rehydration. Typically only one percent—or one person in every 100 infected—dies from cholera.42 However, in the current outbreak Zimbabwe has seen a mortality rate five to six times higher. On January 12, 2009 the World Health Organization (WHO) reported over 39,000 cholera cases in Zimbabwe and over 2,000 deaths.43 The actual figures may be higher due to the incapacity of Zimbabwe’s health services to document cases. 38 Human Rights Watch interviews with farmers, Mashonaland East, November 23, 2008. 39 Human Rights Watch interview with senior GMB employee, Harare, November 17, 2008. 40 Human Rights Watch interviews, Harare, Mashonaland East and West, Masvingo, and Midlands, November 26-30, 2008. 41 Epidemiological features of epidemic cholera (El Tor) in Zimbabwe. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygien , Volume 90 , Issue 4 , Pages 378 - 382 M . 42 Cholera: A New Homeland in Africa? Nicholas H. Gaffga,* Robert V. Tauxe, and Eric D. Mintz Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 77(4), 2007, pp. 705–713; Human Rights Watch interviews with health experts, Harare, November 24 and 25, 2008. 43 WHO Daily Cholera Updates and Alerts, January 12, 2009, http://www.who.int/hac/crises/zmb/sitreps/zimbabwe_cholera_update_12jan2009.pdf (accessed January 18, 2009). 17 Human Rights Watch January 2009