GOKWE — Councillors and villagers in Gokwe South have urged government to increase its drought relief food rations in the area as current monthly supplies have proved inadequate. Report by Blessed Mhlanga Staff Reporter
Ward 15 councillor Newani Nyamazana recently told NewsDay his area only receives nine tonnes of drought relief maize each month to cater for over 7 000 families.
“The situation is dire and some families are now having a single meal a day and those who are able bodied are forced into gold panning and vending just to raise enough money to put food on the table,” he said.
“We are only able to give 150 families maize in any given month which then means it would take almost a year before was can feed the first batch who received the assistance during the first time,” he said.
“At the moment, we give deserving individuals without any political strings attached to the aid unlike in the past. We therefore hope that as elections approach we won’t see those bad days coming back,” said Nyamazana who won the councillorship on an MDC-T ticket.
Mapfumo 2 village headman Steven Mapfumo called on government to step up food aid saying children in his village were already showing signs of malnutrition.
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“We need government to step in and help our children who are suffering from serious malnutrition.
“Most of them only get meals at home once a day which means the whole day they will be digging up roots and picking up wild fruits for sustenance,” he said.