KENT COUNTY COUNCIL SUPPORTS THE MUGABE REGIME

This went out from Kent Green Party last week, meant to put this on my blog then!

Kent Green Party has slammed Kent County Council's financial support for Robert Mugabe's despotic regime after the latest share holdings were made available. KCC have tens of millions of pounds in shares in companies that have significant involvement with the Zimbabwean government(2). Earlier this year the council's branch of the Unison trade union called for an ethical investment policy, a call which has been ignored. Stuart Jeffery, Campaigns Officer for Kent Green Party (1) observes:

"The Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe has been condemned by all four major parties in the UK, yet we have an utterly bizarre situation where Kent County Councillors refuse to consider the effect of their inaction. Councillors should be called to account for their part in supporting unethical investments in the face of almost universal condemnation.

"David Cameron has called for his party to examine their morals when it comes to investing(3), yet both Tory and Liberal Democrat county councillors on our County Council are prepared to maintain investments with our money in the main six companies that have been shown to be propping up Robert Mugabe. This is simply disgraceful.

"Earlier this year, the council's branch of Unison called for an ethical investment policy for Kent County Council, a call that the Greens backed, yet Kent County Council seem to think it is perfectly reasonable to support both despots and arms companies which sell to dictatorships."

Ends c 236 words

Notes:

1. Stuart Jeffery is also Green Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Maidstone and the Weald.
2. KCC’s Share values in companies heavily investing in Zimbabwe:
Anglo American £23.2m
Standard Chartered £15.6m
Barclays £12.9m
Shell £28.0m
Rio Tinto £8.0m
BP £21.8m
Total £109.5m
3. Cameron's views: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7479634.stm>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7479634.stm