- guardian.co.uk, Sunday December 29 2002 02.21 GMT
Fights broke out as people jostled for position. Two small children were caught in the stampede. They were trampled underfoot. The crowd quietened down while the bodies were pulled clear. As the dead children were carried away, fights erupted again. In one brawl, a woman nearly bit the lip off a man.
Such scenes are commonplace today in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. More than half the country's 13 million people are threatened with starvation. Fuel is in such short supply that business has ground to a halt. Basic food such as bread, eggs and sugar is so scarce that riots erupt in supermarkets when they appear.
But it is unlikely England's cricketers will see any evidence of how this once proud and prosperous nation has been driven into the ground. Cosseted at luxurious hotels such as the Meikles, they will be able to choose from five quality restaurants where copious quantities of imported steaks, wines and delicacies will be on offer.
It is part of a drive to carefully cushion the visiting sportsmen from the harsh reality of everyday Zimbabwean life. Despite a critical fuel shortage, the cricket teams will be shuttled about with petrol from a special reserve supply. Doubtless they will be delighted by the country's unrivalled sub-tropical climate, the well-tended pitches and the impressive new sports facilities. They may ask: 'What is all the fuss about?'
That is just what Mugabe wants. As the patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, he has campaigned for this opportunity for his Zimbabwe to sparkle on the international stage. Just as he has manipulated regional beauty pageants and business conferences, Mugabe intends for the six World Cup cricket matches in Zimbabwe to be tightly stage-managed events designed to promote a sunny, stable image.
Most of all, the cricketers and journalists covering the matches will be shielded from the fact that Mugabe is directly responsible for the famine gripping the nation, and the torture and political violence that threaten every corner of the country.
In Harare and Bulawayo, where the cricket matches will be played, the shortage of petrol and diesel have nearly paralysed the transport systems. Snaking queues of cars, trucks, taxis and buses have halted traffic on major thoroughfares. Mugabe's motorcade of 25 vehicles ran into a congested queue in downtown Harare last week and had to make a detour around it.
Motorists have waited in queues for two days and still not been able to buy fuel. Workers routinely wait for hours to get to their jobs. They often pay triple the normal fare. Fuel is in such short supply because the Libyan government stopped oil deliveries after Zimbabwe did not make its payments.
The famine threatening seven million people is a result of Mugabe's violent and chaotic land seizures. A continuation of food shortages is forecast for this year as much of the seized land remains fallow. The acreage currently under cultivation is only 50 per cent of Zimbabwe's average, according to a survey released this weekend by the Famine Early Warning System.
Millions of rural Zimbabweans are scavenging the countryside for berries and roots to stave off hunger. Deaths in which malnutrition is a contributing factor are already being recorded and rural hospitals and clinics report that deaths from outright starvation are expected.
'The fuel and the food shortages have made our lives so difficult. We never thought things would get this bad,' said a young office worker who did not want to give his name for fear of retribution. He said his family could only afford one meal a day.
'We all know the Mugabe government is responsible for our suffering,' he said. 'And we want everyone who is watching the cricket matches to know that too.'
The Mugabe government is aware of that, and will restrict international sports journalists to reporting on the cricket matches.
Most of the thousands of spectators expected at the cricket matches will be from Zimbabwe's more affluent white minority. They, too, must wait in petrol queues, scramble for items in short supply and cope with sky-high inflation, now at 175 per cent. Many ordinary Zimbabweans are too scared to speak out. But some are determined to show their opposition. A group is waging an e-mail campaign to encourage all spectators to show their disapproval of the government by wearing black t-shirts or armbands.
'We want to protest this brutal government so that everyone will know that all is not right in Zimbabwe,' said an outraged government critic who is also a cricket fan. 'We want to make our unhappiness visible to international viewers and also to Mr Mugabe. We really don't want him to be able to enjoy these matches.'
Iden Wetherell, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, said: 'Mugabe's supporters are already crowing over their latest public relations coup. With a whip hand over broadcasting and swathes of the print media under their control, they will use the presence of the cricket teams to divert attention from shortages and starvation while claiming international approval of their lawless regime.'
