arrested. Soldiers reacted to the violence by burning some of the tents at the site leading to violent
displacement of the villagers. The issue of the soldiers burning tents at the transit camp has seen the
Minister of Defence Sidney Sekeramayi deny their involvement although the families at Chingwizi
saw people army uniforms violate their right to shelter. The case of the burning of police vehicles is
now before the courts.
FOOD AND OTHER FORMS OF AID VIOLATIONS
Country wide there were a few incidents of violations involving accessing food hand-outs. The
incidents recorded included being denied access to food because of one’s political affiliation, being
ordered to denounce one’s party in order to access food, being ordered to produce a party card before
accessing food and being ordered not to wear party regalia at the food distribution point. Below are
highlights of these incidents in the various provinces.
Mashonaland East: Social workers in Chikomba East giving out $50 vouchers to vulnerable people
in ward 27 left out a senior citizen. There was no clear explanation for the omission. It was later
discovered that councillor Mhondiwa of ZANU PF had influenced the cancellation of the senior
citizen’s name because her son was a strong supporter of MDC-T who had contested during last
year’s elections.
Mashonaland West: An MDC-T supporter was
Maize from Young Men Christian Association
(YMCA) was distributed in Rimuka, Kadoma
on 6 July 2014 and she was the only MDC-T
supporter denied because she holds a senior
post in the party.
denied food aid because of her political affiliation.
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8
6
4
2
0
9
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
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Masvingo: The districts of Chivi, Mwenezi and
Chiredzi continued to suffer most from food
deficits as there were no meaningful harvests
and though the food is available in shops most
people cannot afford the prices. The Chingwizi camp in particular was most affected as over three
thousand families face starvation.
Mashonaland Central: The province recorded the highest number of food violations with 9 out of
15 recorded cases countrywide based on political intolerance.
Manicaland: Areas in Chimanimani especially around Birchenough Bridge and Musikavanhu
Constituency did not have meaningful harvests and are in dire need of food aid. Whilst other districts
are a bit better as food is also available in the shops people cannot afford the prices. A sizeable
number of irrigation equipment at Nyanyadzi Irrigation Scheme is now malfunctioning and needs
replacement.
Bulawayo: The food situation remains the same; most people are purchasing food mostly from
supermarkets and other retail out lets within the province. However, at Nkulumane clinic Catholic
Relief Service (CRS) is distributing food aid in form of cooking oil, beans and maize meal to underweight children and those living with HIV/AIDS in the community.
Matabeleland North: Owing to the good harvests experienced in most parts of the province the food
situation is said to be stable, save for a few areas such as Binga North and Tsholotsho North.
Matabeleland South: The food situation has greatly improved within the province since the harvest
was good for most farmers. However, there are some areas that need attention as they were affected
by the heavy rains at the beginning of the year.
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