The MDC-T national council met in Bulawayo over the weekend and called for speedy and impartial distribution of food in the country as well as timely intervention to save livestock in Matabeleland.
Report by Nqobile Bhebhe The council’s meeting,which coincided with the party’s 13th anniversary celebrations at White City Stadium, noted that most parts of Matabeleland had been hit hard by drought, hence the need to speedily introduce mitigatory measures.
Part of the resolutions read: “The party notes the desperate food situation prevailing in the country and the parlous state of livestock particularly in the Matabeleland region.
“The party calls on government to ensure the expeditious and impartial distribution of food in the country and calls on the Ministry of Agriculture to openly and effectively save the livestock from the resources that Treasury has allocated.”
Over the past four months drought in Matabeleland South has been escalating and villagers in Gwanda were reportedly exchanging some of their livestock for stockfeed to save their herds.
Most parts of Gwanda — except for a few farms in the district – no longer have pastures for livestock.
Meanwhile, the MDC-T, which is campaigning for a ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum for the new constitution, said it “restates and reaffirms its resolution of the 3rd of August 2012 to endorse the Copac draft constitution as a panacea to the socio-economic and political crisis confronting Zimbabwe”.
It said “no party or individual has the right to call for an election unilaterally and the next election can only be called for by the parties in consultation with each other”. The MDC-T said elections should be held after the implementation of the agreed roadmap, when all requisite reforms have been put in place.
