THE ZIMBABWE
PEACE PROJECT
This means that those who did not benefit are due to face starvation as
they likely will not afford to buy seed, which is selling at well over
ZWL1600.00 for a 5kg bag.In some instances, farmers only received 1kg of
seed instead of the 5kg, which will impact on the size of the harvest.
The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) is providing food aid to about 8
million Zimbabweans – more than half the population. While the attempts
to achieve food security through Pfumvudza are noble, the implementation
has remained largely discriminatory and this will defeat the entire purpose.
The line between the State and the ruling party should be respected and
government programmes should benefit all the deserving beneficiaries in
spite of their political, religious or any other affiliation.
ZPP recommends that government should put in place measures such as
the use of official government data, and not political party members’ lists
when distributing aid in communities.
ZPP also urges community elected and traditional leaders to safeguard
against the politicization of aid and use the direct influence they have on
people to ensure every deserving beneficiary gets aid. Besides, when one is
elected as councilor, they represent everyone in the ward, and not just their
party supporters. Similarly, traditional leaders are prohibited by Chapter 15
of the Zimbabwe Constitution from acting in a partisan manner.
This month, ZPP conducted a Public Social Accountability Monitoring workshop, and
participants, who included rights holders and office bearers drawn from across the country
discussed, among other things, how as a community they can account for public resources
using local tools & mechanisms