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Zimbabwe: Caution urged over food politicisation claims
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You are posting a comment or a review on the topic "Zimbabwe: Caution urged over food politicisation claims." Author information is available below. Scroll to the botton of the message to post your comment.
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Message and Author Information: IRIN.
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Posted on: 23 July 2002, 03:32, from , ,
In Category: Economy
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Distribution of food aid in Zimbabwe, where six million people face hunger, has become a political hot-potato, much to the chagrin of humanitarian agencies implementing life-saving programmes.
Accusations that the distribution of food aid has been politicised - with claims that supporters of both the ruling ZANU-PF and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have been denied aid due to their political allegiance - have been fuelled by comments by politicians.
Zimbabwe's independent newspaper, The Standard, recently reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Abednico Ncube told villagers in Matabeleland that maize "will be available only to those who dump the opposition and work with ZANU-PF". The party would "start feeding its children before turning to those of the MDC".
ZANU-PF MP for Beitbridge, Kembo Mohadi, also reportedly "bullied and threatened" NGO's conducting distribution of food aid in Gwanda, Matabeleland. He allegedly warned them they were there at the invitation of the government, and would have to follow government directives.
World Vision, one of the NGO implementing aid deliveries for the World Food Programme in Gwanda, has called for calm.
"Politicians can make statements that are threatening but that does not necessarily change the way food is distributed," Rudo Kwaramba, Director of World Vision Zimbabwe, told IRIN on Tuesday.
"From what I gather he [Mohadi] made certain statements, but it does not change the register [of those who qualify for food aid] and how we are going to distribute food. It does not change how NGOs work on the ground, we will continue to distribute food to those people, irrespective of what political statements were made."
Allegations of politicisation of food have come from both sides of the political divide. "Where there's a shortage of food anyone can make a statement that they have been excluded from a register because of the political party they support," said Kwaramba.
Many of the allegations made were untested. "My concern is just the way in which those who raise complaints have done so. Very few have come to the particular implementing agency to verify information. That attracts negative feedback from donors and well wishers and those who would help, complicating the process of raising additional resources," she said.
"We feel we are doing [our] best to get the food to people who are needy. People need to know that in the registration process we work with local government, which consists of councillors who are drawn from wards, who work with headmen from villages etc." So communities were "very involved" in the identification of people in need of aid, Kwaramba added.
The accusations had created a situation where "we have to spend time answering questions to the international community" instead of working to feed the hungry. There was a need to educate NGOs as some were making allegations "when they do not know in reality whether there is politicisation or not", she added.
"Everything is being done to make sure people are not left out on the basis of political alliance. We have community based committees set up to receive complaints from people so we can investigate. It was understood from the beginning that we working in a politically charged environment," Kwaramba said. -->
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