PUBLIC Service, Labour and Social Welfare deputy minister Mercy Dinha was on Wednesday grilled in the National Assembly over politicisation and theft of food aid by suspected Zanu PF activists working in cahoots with traditional leaders.
Human rights watchdogs like the Zimbabwe Peace Project have documented several cases of politicisation and theft of food aid by politically-connected individuals.
Government is distributing food aid in response to the El Niño-induced drought that has left over five million people in the country in urgent need of food aid.
On Wednesday, the politicisation and theft of food aid took centre stage in the National Assembly as lawmakers demanded answers from Dinha.
Mashonaland West proportional representative MP Mutsa Murombedzi asked Dinha to explain what measures government put in place to guarantee the efficient and transparent distribution of drought relief to intended beneficiaries regardless of political affiliation.
“Maize is being stolen. The maize was meant for relief, targeting the vulnerable, of which a cup of grain might be the difference between life and death for someone,” Murombedzi said.
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“Can the ministry come up with a more watertight distribution channel which is not porous?”
Dinha said government had a mandate to ensure food aid reached the intended beneficiaries.
“In order to reduce issues of inefficiencies and pilferage of grain meant for beneficiaries, the ministry has put in place various mechanisms and these include establishment of drought relief committees from national to sub-national level, which have a mandate to supervise and monitor all grain distribution processes,” she said.
“(There is) the involvement of traditional leaders in the entire distribution process as they are key in all the processes of food distribution. They are there to identify and receive grievances to do with any mismanagement regarding food distribution.”
Dinha explained the adoption and use of the Food Deficit Mitigation Strategy manual, an implementation guide which details a step-by-step process to be undertaken from the registration of beneficiaries until they receive the food aid.
“Then there is also capacitation of the workforce involved in the drought relief programmes,” she said.
“The officials involved in this programme received capacitation, that is training of trainers for supply chain management which include tracking of trucks, e-management of all the processes from the initial processes of targeting, registration, distribution and acquitting of the disbursements done.
“The aim of this capacitation being to improve efficiency, transparency and reduce pilferage of food aid.”
She urged villagers to report cases of theft and politicisation of drought relief provisions.
“There is also full involvement of all community members in the food distribution process. Food distribution is for the community,” she said.
“Anyone can be a whistleblower, where anomalies are observed and the law will take its course as evidenced by cases that are before the courts.”
Dinha said no truck carrying grain was allowed to leave a Grain Marketing Board depot for the distribution point without being escorted by a police officer.
“Lastly, at the distribution points, we have also put in place measures to ensure that grain is delivered and distributed on the same day and during daylight,” she added.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the drought a state of national disaster and appealed for US$3 billion to mitigate the crisis.