ZANU PF takes over grain loan scheme in Masvingo
By Tererai Karimakwenda
21 September 2012
A government scheme meant to assist villagers in need of grain has been
hijacked by ZANU PF officials in Masvingo, who are selecting only members of
their own party as beneficiaries.
Reports from Rupike, Tugwane, Mavizhu, Muchibwa, and Maburutse villages in
Masvingo province said that villagers are facing starvation while ZANU PF
politicians abuse the government scheme.
According to a report from the Crisis Coalition, villages had, “properly put
their names forward and submitted photocopies of their identity particulars”.
But local councillors and traditional leaders are being used to alter
distribution lists and only ZANU PF members are receiving seeds and
fertilizer, meant for all in need.
A team from the Crisis Coalition spoke to a villager who said: “We are
starving here, we have no food. The major problem is that when food is
distributed we are not given because they say we are MDC members. Lots of
food is being distributed but we are left in the cold because of our
political inclination”.
The strategy of politicizing food donations has been used by ZANU PF
regularly over the years, to try and increase their support base ahead of
elections. The donations are usually accompanied by threats to the
recipients, who are ordered to vote for Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF candidates
if they accept the food.
The same strategy has already been used in other parts of the country,
especially in Manicaland, where villagers are being told to report the
incidents to the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC). But
the provincial JOMIC teams have no power to change anything.
The loan scheme was introduced by the inclusive government last year. The
idea was to assist communal farmers who needed grain from the Grain
Marketing Board but could not afford it. The scheme gives them a loan of
seeds, which is meant to be repaid after their next harvest.