GOVERNMENT has been called on to adopt and enforce non-discriminatory food aid policies to avoid abuse of citizens ahead of elections next year.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), in a policy brief titled Chastising Use of Food As A Political Weapon: Advocacy For The Equal Distribution Of Relief Aid On The Road To 2018, noted with concern the unfair distribution of relief aid during the electioneering period.
The human rights watchdog said Zanu PF activists were the main perpetrators, a charge the ruling party’s spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo has denied on several occasions.
“Citizens have been deprived of relief aid on the basis of political preferences. Section 56 of the Constitution provides for equal and non-discriminatory opportunities in political, social, cultural and social spheres,” ZPP said.
“It is recommended that the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare ensures that non-discriminatory policies are put in place, enforced and fulfilled in the distribution of relief aid. The ministry should ensure that all intended beneficiaries of food aid equally receive their quota regardless of political affiliation.”
The organisation argued that unfair distribution of food aid violated national and international statutes on the right to food such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Khaya Moyo has said despite hunger stalking many across the country, Zimbabweans would never starve, adding government-sourced food aid would not be distributed along regional, tribal or party lines.
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President Robert Mugabe has also defended his government on accusations of partisan distribution of food aid.
But the ZPP said the situation on the ground was different.
The ZPP recommended: “Food, as a basic necessity, should not be politicised in favour of a certain political party at the expense of the others and should not be used to lure voters. The government should recognise and implement the recommendations from the 2016 report by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission on food aid distribution”.
The group urged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to clearly define “what constitutes vote buying vis-a-vis food and other aid distribution”.
ZPP called for the establishment of “other community actors in food distribution beyond political functionaries and have a complaints mechanism that allows citizens to report without fear of reprisals”.
