Soldiers Stop ZANU PF Officials From Taking Over Distributing Idai Relief Aid -Report
ZANU Officials in Manicaland were on Sunday instructed by members of the Zimbabwe National Army not to interfere with the distribution of food aid in Cyclone Idai-hit Chimanimani.
This follows reports that youths from the ruling Zanu PF party have taken over food distribution in Ngangu, Kopa and other parts of Chimanimani that were ruined by Tropical Cyclone Idai.
The incident involving soldiers and ZANU PF officials was revealed by Francis Mandaza, the public relations manager for Harare City Parking, who accompanied Harare mayor Herbert Gomba to hand over aid. Said Mandaza:
The army officials had to tell them to go away because the issue was non-partisan. We thought it should be common knowledge that when such a disaster strikes, nobody should be seen to be keen on harvesting politically from that.
We are, however, happy that we managed to carry out our social responsibility (function) by donating food and non-food items to the needy… as a city, we are not only about taking from (motorists and residents through) parking fees and rentals, but also helping out where colleagues are in need.
ZANU PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said that the officials from the ruling party may have genuinely been trying to help.
