War Vets, village heads abusing funds for vulnerable people

WAR veterans and village heads in Bulilima District are reportedly abusing funds which are meant for vulnerable people.

Councillors, who spoke during a Rural District Development Committee meeting, said war vets and village heads were listing themselves as beneficiaries of various Government programmes.

"We have been receiving reports that war vets and village heads are double dipping. For example in my ward some war vets are receiving their war veteran allowances and at the same time they are benefiting under the harmonised cash transfer programme.

"These people misrepresented themselves to be vulnerable people and were enlisted under the social services department database of vulnerable people and they are getting paid every month," said Mr Morgen Ndebele, who is the councillor for Dombolefu Ward.

Also speaking at the meeting the district administrator for Bulilima, Mrs Ethel Moyo, said she had received similar complaints about village heads.

"There is an allowance which the Government set aside for village heads to sustain their families. I have received complaints from villagers that in addition to this fund some village heads are benefiting from the harmonised cash transfer as well as from the pensioner's fund.

"This is wrong because each person should benefit from a single fund in order to leave space for other beneficiaries. We have a number of extremely vulnerable people who are not benefiting from Government funds as expected while able-bodied people are," said Mrs Moyo.

"We have old people in the community, disabled people and orphaned children who should be benefiting but instead women who have their children in the diaspora are benefiting instead. Eventually people think that there is nepotism when selecting beneficiaries just because some people are fraudulent."

The members of the committee called on the Social Services Department to revisit their list of beneficiaries in the district.

"The current list has to be revised. This time the Social Services Department should consult various stakeholders when coming up with the list of beneficiaries. The community leaders know the people who are desperate for assistance.

"In this case we will be able to avoid a situation whereby vulnerable people are left out and able-bodied people benefit. Those people, who are already benefiting through other Government programmes such as war vets and village heads, must be withdrawn from the social services pay sheet," said Mrs Moyo.

The committee members also expressed concern as youths were submitting their business proposals but not getting any response under the Youth Loan Fund.

A representative from the Ministry of Youth said youths from the district had not received any response since the beginning of the year.

"The province was allocated $142 857 under the youth loan fund but youths from the district have not received anything. The youths have been submitting their business proposals since the beginning of the year but they have just been piling up at the bank up to now.

"We have tried to engage the bank in question to find out on the progress they have made but without success. We are just waiting to get a list of benefiting youths but we do not know when it will come," said the Ministry of Youth officer.

She said $9 656 was set aside under the Women's Development Fund but no one had benefited from the district so far.

Committee members were disgruntled that the youths were not benefiting while the fund was lying idle.