ZANU PF secretary for Youth Affairs, Pupurai Togarepi on Wednesday scoffed at allegations that the party has been abusing food aid and presidential farming inputs, describing them as “mischief and malicious”.
In an interview with Zim Morning Post, Togarepi said food and farming inputs were distributed to all Zimbabweans not to Zanu PF members per se.
“When food aid and farming inputs are being distributed in our villages, we do not ask for political parties. We only distribute fairly and equally to the people of Zimbabwe. So the news that Zanu PF abuses these things are just mischievous and malicious views from the opposition,” Togarepi said.
The Zanu PF politburo member added that they might be cases of abuse with the food aid and farming inputs, but not on political grounds.
Togarepi said selfish and criminal elements who abused food aid and presidential inputs should be reported to relevant authorities.
“I understand that those things might be happening but not by Zanu PF. But when those things happen, people should report these things to relevant authorities. As a party, we do not condone corruption and nepotism. Reporting to opposition leaders won’t solve anything since the issue will end up being politicised,” Togarepi added.
Government in 2016 launched a US$500 million command agriculture programme under which it intended to produce two million tonnes of maize from 400 000 hectares of land, a move meant to ensure food security and to reduce dependency on imports.
The programme was designed to mobilise sustainable and affordable funding for agriculture so as to ensure food security and eliminate imports of food.
It was the late former President Robert Mugabe’s “attempt” to redress what he said were colonial land pattern injustices through a chaotic and violent land reform, which started in 2000, that worsened the food security situation in the country, in the process transforming it from being Southern Africa’s breadbasket to a nation dependent on food aid.
The 2008–2009 droughts compounded an already bad situation, and forced about three million citizens to rely on donor food aid
