According to the
Chronicle (24 Feb 2012), the Director
of the Social Services appeared before the Senate Thematic Committee on Millennium
Development Goals and said that the ministry was not able to buy grain to
distribute to the poor.
Treasury has not
yet released money for drought relief with families in many areas of the
country facing serious food shortages.
Negotiations
with the GMB have been unfruitful with the country’s grain board saying that
there is a cost associated with moving grain, the permanent secretary in the
ministry, Mr. Sydney Mhishi, has said.
“This is an area
we have tried to negotiate with GMB that our stakeholders are suffering out
there but they always say there is a cost associated with moving the grain.
“The most
important thing is not for us to negotiate with a sister department or
parastatal but for government to issue a directive…for Cabinet to make a
decision that people are starving and GMB should move the maize and we will be
happy to facilitate that movement,” Mhishi was quoted saying in the Chronicle.
Questions that
one begins to ask are: where is the $3 million that the ministry was allocated
in the 2012 budget? Is it really feasible for government to issue a directive
for the release of grain at the expense of the GMB as a department?
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| Maize...Zimbabwe's staple food. |
Interesting sentiments. Drought is a cause for concern especially in Matabeleland. Government should take heed of the people's concerns
ReplyDeleteTrue, there has to be some form of responsiveness, even at local level. We are done with donations, we need to stand up for our own!!
ReplyDeletepeople will die of hunger if something is not done.
ReplyDelete