Walter Mswazie, Masvingo Correspondent
ABOUT 80 000 drought-stricken villagers in Mwenezi are benefiting from government’s food-aid programme, an official has said.
This comes in the wake of reports from some section of the local media In Masvingo that villagers in Mwenezi’s Ward 2 under Chief Negari have resorted to eating baboons as drought stalks the district.
Mwenezi district administrator Ms Rosemary Chingwe has dismissed the reports as unfounded and meant to raise alarm and despondency.
She said Mwenezi district is oversubscribed when it comes to the provision of food aid, adding no one will die of hunger.
“We have about 80 000 villagers who are receiving food aid on a monthly basis. This will continue up to the next harvesting season in April next year,” said Ms Chingwe.
She said government together with some Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that include Zimbabwe Red Cross Society provide food for all villagers in need with other wards receiving allocations twice or thrice a month.
She said all the 18 wards in Mwenezi were receiving food aid including those in Chingwizi resettlement.
“The reports on villagers in Ward 2 eating baboons because of drought are unfounded. I made my investigation and founded no clue on the story. I saw the story in one of the local papers but they are all falsehoods. Ironically Ward 2 is over subscribed as there is government , Zimbabwe Red Cross Society and Mwenezi Development Training Centre providing food aid,” she said.
She said there is food for work programmes in all wards where families receive 50 kg of maize grain after working for 60 hours in gulley filling or road maintenance.
“I can safely say no one is starving in Chiredzi. The baboon story is a hoax,” she said.
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