BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
Lobengula legislator Gift Banda (MDC Alliance) has pledged impartial food aid distribution to the needy in the constituency after noting reports of bias along partisan lines in the previous exercise.
Urbanities have not been spared the vagaries of hunger, and according to food assessment reports, the majority of the people in the urban centres are also in need of food assistance.
Government has also been providing food aid to feed the hungry, particularly vulnerable groups such as the elderly.
Addressing residents during an all-stakeholder consultative meeting held at Lobengula hall at the weekend, Banda noted that the climate change-induced hunger was stalking many in the constituency, a situation further compounded by a harsh economic climate.
“All distribution of donations should be done in a transparent manner, above board and notwithstanding political lines. For example, the past two distributions of donations have left the community divided as partiallity was shown,” he noted.
“The food, aid which is being distributed today, has been procured by the community development committee and will be given to all people, regardless of affiliation. People living with disability, the vulnerable and the elderly will be given priority.”
According to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) nearly 5,3 million people are estimated to be in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection during the 2018/2019 lean season (October-April) and beyond.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Early this year, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs launched a flash appeal for Zimbabwe to mobilise emergency food aid for millions of people facing drought-induced hunger.
A flash appeal is described as a tool for structuring a co-ordinated humanitarian response for the first three to six months of an emergency.
The UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator triggers it in consultation with all stakeholders, and is issued within one week of an emergency.
The UN and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network have said Zimbabwe’s food security situation is so dire, and further made grim by the harsh effects of the economic climate and poverty stalking millions.
