BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Harare - Zimbabwe's information minister on Friday accused former colonial power Britain of starting the country's cholera epidemic in a bid to commit a "genocide of our people".
"The cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe is a serious biological, chemical war force, a genocidal onslaught, on the people of Zimbabwe by the British," Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told a press conference.
"It's a genocide of our people," he said.
"This was a calculated warfare," Ndlovu said. "There are forces who are continuing to plant anthrax and cholera disease."
Ndlovu spoke one day after President Robert Mugabe claimed the cholera outbreak was over, sparking an international outcry as aid groups warned the epidemic could last for months.
On Friday the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper quoted presidential spokesman George Charamba as saying that Mugabe had been making "his argument through sarcasm, noting that efforts deployed so far towards containing the outbreak were beginning to yield positive results".
Charamba denounced the BBC and France 24, which he said "deliberately distort and misrepresent President Mugabe's remarks".
"Clearly, these two Western networks have chosen a path of wilful distortion of a clear statement and argument by the Zimbabwean president, in order to advance the war and regime change agenda of their expansionist governments," Charamaba said in the Herald.
He added that Zimbabwe still wanted international assistance to fight the disease, which last week was declared a national emergency.
Zimbabwe's crumbling infrastructure has helped spread the disease across the country, as broken water and sewage pipes have left many neighbourhoods without clean drinking water or adequate sanitation.
"The cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe is a serious biological, chemical war force, a genocidal onslaught, on the people of Zimbabwe by the British," Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told a press conference.
"It's a genocide of our people," he said.
"This was a calculated warfare," Ndlovu said. "There are forces who are continuing to plant anthrax and cholera disease."
Ndlovu spoke one day after President Robert Mugabe claimed the cholera outbreak was over, sparking an international outcry as aid groups warned the epidemic could last for months.
On Friday the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper quoted presidential spokesman George Charamba as saying that Mugabe had been making "his argument through sarcasm, noting that efforts deployed so far towards containing the outbreak were beginning to yield positive results".
Charamba denounced the BBC and France 24, which he said "deliberately distort and misrepresent President Mugabe's remarks".
"Clearly, these two Western networks have chosen a path of wilful distortion of a clear statement and argument by the Zimbabwean president, in order to advance the war and regime change agenda of their expansionist governments," Charamaba said in the Herald.
He added that Zimbabwe still wanted international assistance to fight the disease, which last week was declared a national emergency.
Zimbabwe's crumbling infrastructure has helped spread the disease across the country, as broken water and sewage pipes have left many neighbourhoods without clean drinking water or adequate sanitation.