and food poor who according to the ministry are about 10% of the Zimbabwean
household population. The intention is to increase incomes for orphans and
vulnerable children and to reduce the incidence of negative and unsafe coping
mechanisms by families and children in the face of serious deprivations. The
amounts range between $10 per month for a single person household to $25 for
a 4 person or more household per month. The thematic committee heard that
the programme targets 53 000 households in 19 participating districts.
According to the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare a
programme specifically seeking to mitigate the food deficit as a result of drought
operates in the following ways;
Free food made up of a 50kg bag of grain and $10 a month to
cater for milling and cooking oil is distributed to labour constrained
households (elderly, disabled, chronically ill) making up 20-25% of
food insecure households.
The productive safety net in which households that are food
insecure but have labour capability participate in rehabilitation of
community assets in return for either a 50kg bag of grain or $20
cash.
According to the report submitted to the thematic committee on human rights
government is assisting 626 206 food insecure households making up 3 130 000
people with grain. Members of the thematic committee on human rights were
concerned about reports of how food and other aid are reportedly manipulated
in some communities to which secretary Masoka reaffirmed government policy
which state that food should be distributed to all who deserve it and not along
party lines. He however confirmed that they had in the past received such
reports, which they had responded to and addressed although communities still
complain of being discriminated against when it comes to food and other aid.
He also emphasized that his ministry was committed to hear any cases of food
discrimination as they had the mandate to address such anomalies.
Bulawayo
As the debilitating hunger continued to bite, hundreds of people who had attended a ZimPF
rally at Stanley Square in Makokoba ended up shoving, jostling for food on 19 June in
Makokoba, . In the end most of the food was strewn around and destroyed.
Mashonaland Central
In Guruve South ward 11 there was distribution of mosquito nets which was done by village
health workers on 5 June. Kushinga Mpinyori (32) who is the Zanu PF district chairperson as
well as a health worker was writing down names of people in every household to determine
their sleeping patterns in order to distribute mosquito nets. Michael Mashumba* (35) of
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