Wedza villagers reduced to eating dogs and cow dung to survive

By Tichaona Sibanda
28 October 2008

Villagers in most parts of Wedza district in Mashonaland East province have been reduced to eating their own dogs and cow dung, after going for weeks without any proper food.

As Zimbabwe descends into the worst humanitarian crisis in the history of the country, most rural villagers are now surviving on nothing more than wild fruits.

Kerry Kay, the MDC secretary for Welfare, told Newsreel on Tuesday she was horrified beyond belief when she received reports of villagers eating their dogs to survive.

‘This is a tragedy…its horrible and unbelievable. This is a failure of governance that can only be blamed on ZANU PF. This humanitarian crisis has left the country facing the prospect of a famine on an unprecedented scale,’ Kay said.

Kay said reports from all districts in the country are horrifying.
‘You have mothers battling to feed their children and end up preparing cow dung as supplement for their kids. These innocent victims of a failed state are a desperate lot, they have no food, and their malnourished children are dying,’ Kay added.

She described her latest trips into the rural areas as unbelievably depressing, as almost all children had protruding stomachs, sunken eyes and deformed heads, all symptoms of malnutrition.

The MDC said in a statement on Tuesday that Zimbabweans are suffering and dying. Harare East MP and party secretary-general Tendai Biti said the State had dismally failed to provide the most basic requirements and that people have been reduced to a primitive way of life that is not even known in many situations of war.

At Harare’s central prison, at least five prisoners are dying on a daily basis because of malnutrition. Kay said a friend working in the prisons service disclosed that prisoners were getting food rations just once a day, and the amount of food was not even enough to feed a six month old baby.