MPs Call For Equitable Distribution Of Food Aid

Members of Parliament (MPs) have demanded a fair distribution of food aid in their respective constituencies amid reports some deserving households are reportedly being left out, reported NewZimbabwe.com.

Zvimba East MP Kudakwashe Decide Mananzva (ZANU PF), said not all households were benefiting from the current distribution exercise. He said:

We are grateful for the maize that is being distributed but my question is, maize is coming but only a few are benefitting.

One family can take up to six bags whilst another does not. What measures are you taking to ensure that everyone gets the maize grain because everyone is facing starvation?

Mercy Dinha, the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, said 6.1 million people in Zimbabwe’s rural areas needed grain assistance.  She said:

At the moment, there are 6 100 000 beneficiaries of grain in rural areas. People are receiving grain for three months allocation at one go.

One person receives 22.5 kgs which means, a father and mother plus children which is 22.5 times six.

That is why some receive a number of bags whilst some have not received them yet. That is an allocation of the chosen beneficiaries and the criteria has been that there are the most needy at that moment. They are considered as needing the grain at that moment.

However, Mananzva questioned the distribution criteria being used as some households have been getting maize for previous months. He said:

The maize that is being allocated in six months, is it in advance or it is backdated? If it is backdated, it means that people have survived, why do we not give grain to people in advance so that we all benefit?

Dinha explained the criteria were cost-saving in terms of transport. She said:

We have been distributing grain for May, June and July. The criteria reduce costs, especially for transport as well as administration and ensuring that people do not travel up and down to receive the maize.

At the moment, the allocations are for May, June and July. After that, we start distributing for the next three months; so, it will be in batches of three months till March next year.

Chikanga MP, Lynnette Karenyi-Kore (CCC), argued that the government should ensure that every household receives at least some basic food assistance, rather than the current approach which appears to be leaving out certain communities. Said Karenyi-Kore:

According to their assessment, it shows that in rural as well as in urban areas, people are starving.

So, it means that when one person goes with six bags, others get nothing. The Hon. minister admitted that some get as much as six bags, but the fact of the matter is that everyone is starving.

As government, why do they not distribute the maize to everyone for the three months’ batch? It is better to give a bag per household than distributing six bags to one household.

Dinha said the criteria were being used and as a rule gazetted by the government, if that had to be changed, it meant the government must sit down to change the system and ensure that everyone benefits and ensure each household gets a bag of maize.

Mananzva argued that Parliament is part of the government and it never agreed on the alleged procedure being followed. He said:

If you say government laid down that procedure, we are the government and we are saying in Mutoko, no one at all received rains.

So, we want to know how you are going to distribute the maize expeditiously because everyone is starving. The situation is dire out there.

Dinha promised to work with the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development Minister, Anxious Masuka, to act according to MPs’ suggestions.

Goromonzi West legislator Beatrice Karimatsenga-Nyamupinga (ZANU PF) called on the responsible minister to issue a formal ministerial statement addressing the concerns around the grain distribution process. Said Karimatsenga-Nyamupinga:

The two ministries concerned can bring a ministerial statement to this House because we cannot play with an issue that has to do with hunger.

Hunger can lead people to do anything and it is a security threat to have hunger in the country.

Zimbabwe is facing one of the most severe droughts in living memory, caused by the El Niño weather pattern. This crisis has left about half the population in need of food aid.

In April 2024, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a national disaster due to the drought and appealed for $2 billion in international assistance to help millions of Zimbabweans facing hunger.

More: Pindula News