Want to live up to 120! Come to Zimbabwe

Life expectancy in Zimbabwe is said to be under 40 years but a British Member of Parliament told the House of Commons last week that if one wanted to live longer one must come to live in Zimbabwe because there were some people in that country who were aged between 111 and 120 years. They were simply people that were long dead but refused to fall as they were still on the country’s voters’ roll.

Jim Shannon told the House that as much as a third of the 5.5 million voters in Zimbabwe were not “even in the land of the living”.

“If a third of those 5.5 million people have passed on to the next world but can reach from the grave to cast their vote, there must be suspicions about whether the elections will be fair and give the result that they should,” he said.

“Some figures indicate that if someone wants a long life, they should live in Zimbabwe, because some people on the voting list are between 111 and 120 years old. In one area of Zimbabwe alone, 503 people on the voting list have passed on,” he said.

Shannon was calling on his country to make sure that Zimbabwe has free and fair elections when it holds them. He was speaking during a debate on Zimbabwe, the second in the British Parliament this year clearly signifying how important Zimbabwe is to the United Kingdom.

President Robert Mugabe had called for elections this year but the Movement for Democratic Change and the Southern African Development Community say the elections must be held when conditions are right and this is most likely to be next year.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti has also said that the country does not have money to fund the elections and is in fact likely to incur a budget deficit of at least $150 million this year.

Shannon urged the British government to use its political and diplomatic channels to ensure change in Zimbabwe adding that such change could only happen with the support of Zimbabwe’s neighbours.

Here is his contribution in full.

Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP): I congratulate the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) on bringing this topic to the Chamber today. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) on his speech. I shall make only a couple of quick points because I am conscious that other hon. Members wish to speak. My interest in Zimbabwe-or Rhodesia, which probably puts me an older age bracket-comes from my constituency and from those who left Rhodesia, as it was called when they were residents, due to persecution, discrimination and because they wanted a different life for their children and families.

Previous speakers have commented on the need for elections, about which I have some concerns. Will they be fair? Will they be called too soon? Worry has been expressed about holding the elections this year, because they could be construed as unfair because of the nature of the electoral list. I make that comment because perhaps a third of the 5.5 million people in Zimbabwe who are registered to vote are not even in the land of the living, which makes predicting how an election will go very interesting. If a third of those 5.5 million people have passed on to the next world but can reach from the grave to cast their vote, there must be suspicions about whether the elections will be fair and give the result that they should.

Some figures indicate that if someone wants a long life, they should live in Zimbabwe, because some people on the voting list are between 111 and 120 years old. In one area of Zimbabwe alone, 503 people on the voting list have passed on. Will the elections be fair? Will the Minister indicate how he, through his Department and his contacts with Zimbabwe, will ensure that fair elections take place? Only when there is a credible electoral list can we be sure that the elections will be fair and will give the result that they should.

I wish to comment on the views expressed about ZANU-PF and its treatment of the MDC. I am concerned about the trumped up charges and the spurious allegations, which undermine the democratic process that is being taken forward in Zimbabwe. I hope that the Minister will indicate how he sees change being brought about to secure the democratic process and ensure that the electorate in Zimbabwe has the chance to speak.

I commend MDC members for their contribution in their ministerial posts. They have been able to change a bankrupt economy into one that is showing growth. That is good news, and it shows what can happen in what was once the breadbasket of southern Africa, as the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport said.

I have the same concerns as the hon. Gentleman about Chinese imperialism-I use that term honestly and factually, because that is exactly what it is. China has armed Zimbabwe with planes, weapons, artillery and everything that a modern army needs. It has ensured that Zimbabwe has modern communications equipment, as he indicated. China clearly has a path and strategy on Zimbabwe. Given our close relationship with Zimbabwe, I hope that we will use our political and diplomatic channels to ensure that we bring about change. Such change can happen only with the support of Zimbabwe’s neighbours, which I hope they will give.

I conclude with a comment made by Ian Smith when he was the Prime Minister of Rhodesia, as it was then, at a time of change. Looking back now, the change that he was looking at was never the change that we all would like. The change we need today is the same as the change that we needed in Ian Smith’s time. His statement was taken from Winston Churchill, who was a real hero of mine as a schoolboy:

“this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

We hope that Zimbabwe will reach that stage from which it can move forward. I look forward to the Minister’s response, and I hope that we can make the changes necessary in Zimbabwe.

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