Foreign-funded NGO reports partisan distribution of food aid in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has raised alarming concerns over the politicization of food aid distribution in rural areas, with reports indicating that opposition supporters are being systematically excluded from beneficiary lists. This comes as the country grapples with an El Niño-induced drought, which President Emmerson Mnangagwa has officially declared a national disaster.

An estimated 9 million people across urban and rural areas are expected to require food assistance until March 2025. The ZPP's Monthly Monitoring Report for September 2024 revealed instances of political bias in food aid distribution, highlighting nine separate incidents where a total of 85 victims were denied assistance.

The government has entrusted local chiefs with overseeing the distribution of food aid, but allegations have emerged that these traditional leaders are falsifying information and excluding opposition supporters from receiving assistance.

In one striking example from Ward 8 in Vungu district, only 14 out of approximately 65 families have received government-sponsored food aid. According to testimonies from victims, when the decision was made to increase the number of beneficiaries, instead of adding families from the village, additional beneficiaries were selected from other villages based on their affiliation with the ruling party. One victim lamented, "We are not getting the food rations because they say go and feed from your Father's plate. We are not even told about the distribution, but sometimes we are informed by others that our names were called out, yet we do not receive anything, meaning someone is benefiting on our behalf."

Similar reports surfaced in Mwenezi North's Ward 4, where Kraal Head Chitemere was accused of restricting access to-PFumbvudza inputs—an initiative aimed at supporting agricultural productivity—solely to ruling party supporters. Two families were reportedly denied access to fertilizer under the-PFumbvudza scheme simply because they did not attend ZANU-PF meetings. The Kraal Head explicitly stated that the seedling program was intended for ruling party supporters only.

Faced with a hostile environment, the excluded families sought permission from Chitemere to relocate to other villages but were denied, with claims that their movement would negatively impact other villagers. The ZPP report notes, "They labelled them CCC members," referring to the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change, further marginalizing them.

The exploitation of beneficiaries is not limited to exclusion; traditional leaders are reportedly coercing villagers into participating in labor-intensive infrastructure projects under the guise of "food for work." Incidents of this nature have been documented in Vungu district, Masvingo North, Bikita East, Gutu Central, and Mutare North, among others.

In Mutare North's Ward 10, Kraal Head Phanuel Hama Marange is reportedly leading villagers who receive social welfare food aid to repair damaged roads. Villagers are required to work from dawn until 9 a.m. using their own tools, such as shovels and wheelbarrows, and those who do not attend are fined US$1. In Bikita South, villagers seeking food aid were compelled to participate in labor for two months without receiving the promised assistance.

The ZPP is calling for urgent action from the Parliament of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Social Welfare to investigate these abuses and address the political bias and mismanagement in food aid distribution. As the drought crisis worsens, the need for equitable and fair distribution of food aid has never been more critical to safeguard the well-being of vulnerable populations across Zimbabwe.