The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Reporter
ZANU-PF Bulawayo Area 5 District Co-ordinating Committee chairperson Cde Mnothisi Nsingo has said politicians should refrain from hijacking the maize-meal distribution system being spearheaded by Government to gain mileage but should strive to ensure the commodity is accessed by vulnerable groups in society.
Addressing residents from Sunninghill and Waterford suburbs before the distribution of maize meal last Thursday, Cde Nsingo said people should not be swayed into party politics by some unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of the prevailing food shortages in the country to revive their waning political careers.
Last week Cde Nsingo sourced 1 000×10 kilogrammes bags of roller meal for the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) staff members, Waterford and Sunninghill residents.
“It has come to our attention that some unscrupulous politician is using Government’s spearheaded mealie-meal distribution facility in the wake of the shortages to gain political mileage.
“Let me hasten to say that people should not be misled by such characters. Subsidised mealie-meal is being distributed and sold to all people regardless of political affiliation as part of Government’s efforts to alleviate hunger and improving household food security.
“I’m only sourcing the commodity from millers with people buying it at the gazetted price,” he said.
Cde Nsingo said the maize meal distribution programme in his area would mainly target vulnerable members of society.
“I realised that in affluent suburbs as this (Sunninghill) there are vulnerable groups that most tend to overlook and these are gardeners, maids, tenants and even the elderly. These people are hardly accorded time to go and queue for scarce commodities thus we saw it fit to bring mealie-meal within their reach while also mitigating against the spread of the coronavirus. I’m targeting to source mealie-meal for 10 000 families in Area 5 District,” he said.
Cde Nsingo who is also a prominent businessman in the city said the advent of Covid-19 pandemic should bring about a unity of purpose across the political divide.
“In these times of crisis, when we are faced with numerous challenges such as the general performance of the economy, food shortages and most recent the outbreak of Covid-19, it’s when we should unite and care for one another regardless of political affiliation,” he said.
Waterford Residents Association chairman Mr Liberty Nkala said the mealie-meal distribution facility would ensure equitable allocation of the scarce commodity with vulnerable members of the community being given first priority.
“We managed to come up with a list of all families in the suburb and when we were distributing, we started with the elderly, those aged 60 and above, and we moved on to child headed families and property owners and lastly tenants. A number of homes are being occupied by tenants as most of the owners are living abroad,” he said.
Mr Nkala said the maize meal distribution facility should remain in place until the containment of Covid-19 and the country is food secure.
“We are also appealing to Government to continue with this mealie-meal distribution programme as it enables everyone to benefit and this way the state subsidised mealie-meal won’t find its way to the black-market although people need to be told on time when to expect distributions in their areas,” he said. – @DNsingo
