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Civic
group accuses government of denying food aid to its members
ZimOnline
February 02, 2006
http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=11545
MASVINGO - Zimbabwe's
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) civic alliance says the government
is denying food aid and agricultural inputs to its members in the
southern Masvingo province as punishment for backing the group.
The NCA, which
brings together churches, opposition political parties, women's
groups, civic rights organisations, students and labour movements,
campaigns for a new and democratic constitution for Zimbabwe that
among other things should clip President Robert Mugabe's wide-ranging
powers.
NCA chairman
for Masvingo Ray Muzenda yesterday told ZimOnline: "We tried our
level best to access maize meal, fertilizers and maize seeds without
success. At times our members are openly told that they will never
be assisted by the government because of the bad relations between
the NCA and the government."
But Masvingo
provincial governor Willard Chiwewe rejected claims that his officials
were excluding members of the NCA from food aid or farm input programmes.
"We do not discriminate
against anyone when it comes to government programmes such as food
distribution. We do not even ask one's relations with the government
when under-taking such programmes," said Chiwewe.
Masvingo, traditionally
a hunger-prone area, is one of the regions worst affected by hunger
stalking a quarter of Zimbabwe's 12 million people. Many families
in the province virtually depend on food aid provided by the government
and some international food agencies to survive.
This is not
the first time that Mugabe's government has been accused of denying
food to political opponents as punishment. Local and international
human rights groups, churches and the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party routinely have in the past complained that
the government was politicising food aid. The government denies
the charge. - ZimOnline
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