Villagers in Makonde District have implored aid agencies operating in the area to avail food aid to all people as “everyone is starving”.
Raymond Mazani of Gamburi village in Makonde appealed to Red Cross and World Food Programme (WFP) not to screen beneficiaries, which is being done by community leaders, saying such an approach was open to abuse. He said:
There is no need for vetting of villagers to see who is worse off because everyone is starving here … they should try to give at least something to each and every household.
Makonde legislator Kindness Paradza (Zanu PF) said that approximately 67 000 people in his area are in need of food aid.
Meanwhile, Red Cross spokesperson Morris Machawira said it is up to the villagers to vet themselves as his organisation has provided about 57 045 villagers with food aid.