Leaf buying linked to human rights

The US and Mauritius did not purchase any leaf tobacco from Zimbabwe his year, citing as the reason escalating human rights abuses under President Robert Mugabe’s regime, according to a story by John Kachembere for the Daily News, relayed by the TMA.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board said the two countries together bought leaf tobacco worth US$11.7 million last year.

An unnamed source was quoted as saying that in 2015 the US and Mauritius bought tobacco at an average of $4.00 per kg, which was far ahead of the $2.79 that South Africa offered.

The source added that if the US and Mauritius had bought tobacco this year, prices would have improved.

Last week, police in Zimbabwe used teargas, water cannons and batons to disperse youths who demonstrated in the capital against alleged brutality by security agents.

The EU joined the US and Canada in denouncing President Mugabe’s administration for deploying the police to clamp down on peaceful protestors.

The EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Philippe Van Damme expressed the EU’s concern at the “marked increase in violence at public protests and demonstrations in Zimbabwe in recent weeks”.