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’Food aid must go with the will to work’
2006-03-16 09:10:32
By Patrick Kisembo, Same
The government has been advised that food aid should commensurate with development activities in the targeted areas to make people participate fully in building the nation.
The remarks were aired to The Guardian recently by village and ward authorities in Same District, Kilimanjaro Region.
Makanya Ward Executive Officer, Julius Mbwambo told the paper that leaders experienced difficulties in convincing villagers who shun development activities in the name of hunger.
He said the majority of the people who shun development activities are those who had not received food aid regardless of their capacity to access it.
’’Even people who are better-off refuse to attend village dealings,’’ he commented.
He added: ’’You tell a person to go for work, he/she just respond by saying ’I have not eaten and I am going to search for food’, this is very embarrassing.’’
Mbwambo said the situation has tremendously hampered the pace of development of the area.
’’It becomes a subject of contention between those who received food aid and those who missed on one side, and between this later group and the authorities,’’ he said.
Mbwambo therefore urged the government to at least ensure relief food go hand in hand with development needs and encourage people to work before they get their food share.
’’Otherwise all development programmes are doomed too failure, as many are not willing to work unless they are given food,’’ he noted.
He said school building, road maintenance, trench digging and others are some of the activities that people boycott.
The situation was the same in Hedaru Village, in the same district.
The Village Executive Officer, Alfa Mkumbwa, told the paper that the majority of business people refuse to participate in development activities claiming that they have been marginalised on the food aid issue.
Mkumbwa said: ’’They will tell you that let those who have got food, since they are energetic, go to work.’’
She disclosed that relief food had created some misunderstanding among the people and their leaders.
She said village authorities were in difficulties as many people, especially those who have not received food aid have lost trust, and charging that the aid was for everybody, and not just for a few.
’’We have tried to educate them that the aid is meant for those who are seriously in need of food and have been identified, but people refuse to accept the fact,’’ she said.
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