TRANSPORT operators engaged by government to move food aid to avert hunger have complained over unpaid fees threatening the distribution the relief, NewsDay has gathered.
Several transporters and district development co-ordinators who preside over food distribution through the Department of Social Welfare across the country have raised concern over unpaid transport fees plunging the country into yet another crisis.
Zimbabwe embarked on a threemonth blitz from May to July last year targeting more than 6,2 million vulnerable members of the community after the El Niño-induced drought decimated output.
The second blitz was from August to October.
Government is also distributing food aid to the vulnerable until the end of the lean season in March this year.
Investigations by NewsDay revealed that government has only sourced wheat although maize is the staple diet for the country, once touted as Southern Africa’s breadbasket.
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Sources in Mashonaland Central, East, West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North and South provinces said unpaid fees were affecting government the food aid programme.
“It was agreed that payments were to be done soon after submission of invoices within two weeks but nothing has materialised since last year,” one transporter based in Mashonaland Central province told NewsDay.
“We are not sure when the funds will be released but our own service providers especially fuel providers are demanding the money we owe them. Vehicles have challenges of wear and tear, tyre bursts and other related costs. Drivers also must be paid on time.”
Other operators said they were promised varying fees per bag of grain especially wheat from a Grain Marketing Board depot to a rural-based ward.
“The fees vary from US$1,50 to US$3 per bag. Some are owed over US$300 000 over the long period,” a source from Masvingo said.
According to the disgruntled transporters, the Department of Social Welfare has not been forthcoming over financial status of the food aid programme.
“We are also in the dark over how the funds will be paid to transporters. Some affected districts have since stopped distribution as transporters no longer have resources to self-fund the distribution facing financial logjam,” a government official said, speaking on conditions of anonymity.
District development co-ordinators corroborated transporters' claims saying this was putting government in bad light.
“The non-payment is an open secret but it has taken longer than expected. The issues have been raised at both district and provincial meetings nationwide,” the official said.
According to insiders, the Department of Social Welfare is struggling to raise more than US$300 million to cater for food aid distribution.
“We are still yet to get finer details but as it stands, the transporters are owed millions of dollars. We hope finances will be availed to pay them on time for service rendered,” the sources said.
In an interview on Friday last week, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare secretary Simon Masanga confirmed that government had not yet paid the transporters.
“We are mobilising resources. The food aid distribution is a massive programme requiring huge funding hence the delay in paying,” he said.
Masanga, however, could not give the exact figure owed by the ministry.
‘‘We currently have some pressing issues but the non-communication is obvious because there are no resources to give a time frame. Hopefully, all will be sorted in due course,” Masanga said.
Zimbabwe is facing an acute food shortage that has seen international agencies mobilising resources to secure food ahead of next harvest in late April.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a state of national disaster after the 2023/24 season was affected by the El Niño-induced drought, leaving more than half of the population requiring food aid.
The figures continue to rise as more people in towns and cities face acute food shortages amid an economic crisis.