Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum: Report on Organised Violence and Torture in 1999
the local unit and an accompanying exit by investors from the stock exchange. The collapse was followed
by price inceases, and the Food Riots became an inevitable event3.
The collapse in the dollar fuelled inflation through 1998, as did the persistent borrowing by government to
fund its deficit and recurrent spending. The economic crisis the country suffered as a result of maladroit
handling of issues of expenditure continued through 1999. The problems were fuelled by the doubts that
arose over the cost of maintaining troops in the Congo. This is a highly unpopular war 4, and the
government has consistently refused to make any frank disclosure about either the casualties or the costs.
In fact, the Minister of Defence even refused to give Parliament the full facts when this was demanded in
the House of Parliament.
Now, nearly two decades after Independence, Zimbabweans have been severely impoverished by the
country’s burgeoning domestic debt whose interest bill alone has doubled from the initial estimate of
$10 billion to Z$41 billion. At the end of 1998 the external debt was Z$90.2 billion and the figures at the
end of 1999 are likely to be nearly double this amount.
The practical effect has been a large increase in the number of “very poor” people: the official figure has
risen from 67% in 1998 to 76% in 1999. The Poverty Datum Line for a family of six was estimated to be
Z$5046 per month which was about 5 times the lowest statutory minimum wage in the private sector5.
2.2 Corruption
Out of 99 countries, Zimbabwe was ranked the 42nd among the 85 most corrupt counties in the
Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. During the year graft and underhand dealings
were endemic in both the private and public sector. The most notable cases in the public sector involved
the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, which has sustained losses of US$14.6 billion since 1994 and an
independent investigation indicated massive fraud and theft throughout the company. The VIP housing
scandal, and the War Victims Compensation Fund scandal remained unresolved during 1999.
The rampant corruption caused the National Economic Consultative Forum to appoint a ten member anticorruption task force. In October 1999 the Minister of Home Affairs was reported to have said that plans
were underway to set up an anti-corruption agency in the police force. One hopes that all these measures
will be useful in the fight against corruption.
2.3 The war in the DRC
The legal basis for Zimbabwe’s involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been a
bone of contention from the outset. When President Mugabe decided to commit the Zimbabwe National
Army to the conflict in the DRC, it seemed that he had done this unilaterally: if the Cabinet did give
approval, this was certainly not made known to the public.
Since the purpose of the Defence Forces as set out in the Constitution is to defend Zimbabwe, and, further,
since the dispatch of troops to the Congo was not for the purposes of defending Zimbabwe, this use of
Zimbabwean soldiers was not constitutionally permitted. Furthermore although the Constitution does
empower the President to declare war, provided he is acting on the advice of his Cabinet, the President has
not, however, declared war on any other State. Thus this military expedition was not initially covered by
this provision although it may have been ratified subsequently. Finally, since this military engagement was
bound to require additional finance over and above the statutory provision in the budget, Parliament
should have been consulted before any decision was made. However, despite wide publicity given to the
contention that there was no legal basis in Zimbabwean law for the President’s decison, there has been no
3
See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (1999), A Consolidated Report on the Food Riots, 19th to 23rd January 1999,
Harare: Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum.
4
See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (1998), A Gallup Poll on Zimbabwe’s involvement in the DRC War.
5
See Cheater A (1999), “Human rights developments January-June 1999” Zimbabwe Human Rights Bulletin 1 3-47.
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