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Villagers cry foul over relief food distribution
2006-03-16 09:12:43
By Patrick Kisembo, Arusha and Kilimanjaro
Cumbersome procedures on the distribution of relief food in parts of Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions have caused much dissatisfaction in the implementation of the exercise among the village and ward leaders.
A survey carried by The Guardian in the regions has established that authorities at the unit, village and ward levels are experiencing difficulties in distributing food to the targeted groups due to the fact that almost every resident in their areas of concern has no food.
According to the food distribution procedures, each targeted person is supposed to receive 12 kilos of maize which is sold at the government price of 50/- per kilo for those who could at least be able to purchase.
It has been found out that many people in the surveyed areas have no enough money to buy relief food at that price.
In its efforts to assist those with no money, the government has also offered additional kilogrammes of maize free of charge to the poorest needy, who include the oldest people, disabled, and the sick.
However the implementation of these conditions has drawn a lot of criticism from villagers directed to their leaders.
”The conditions laid down by the government are barriers to many of us leaders who are closer to the needy,” said Makanya Ward Executive Officer, Julius Mbwambo.
Mbwambo told the paper that the laid down procedures have brought more problems than solutions. People here are not ready for one family to have food while the others are starving,’’ he said.
’’We ask the Office of the Prime Minster revisit the procedure to give us (ward and village authorities) the power to decide the amount of ration to be given to the people since we are the ones who know clearly those who are starving and their quantity of food they need,’’ said Makanya Ward Councillor, Mroki Waziri Mshana.
He said they (ward and village authorities) have been ’’trapped’’ by the conditions, which have made them fail to fulfil their people’s needs.
’’You know every thing is dictated from above. If you go to the District Commissioner’s office you will just be told to follow the order as given from above.
And we the local authorities have no capacity to reach the Prime Ministers Office if our immediate leaders have told us to implement the directives,’’ he lamented.
Other complaints raised are those in which some of the villagers refuse to take their food, saying that the quantity of relief was not enough for all the needy in the unit while others complain that the food given to them was not in accordance with the amount they were supposed to get.
’’We were told that food will be enough for us all, but only few have received while others did not see even a single grain,’’ said Mwanaidi Abdullah, a mother of five children.
She said she had been given 12Kgs of maize instead of 84 Kgs since she has five children including herself and her husband.
The Hedaru VEO said it has been very difficult to convince the villagers that there was some more relief food coming for the rest who did not get any ration.
Food rationing has brought squabbles to majority of the residents in many villages, causing enmity among themselves and their authorities.
Many authorities have been blasted for mishandling relief food, since they are not strictly adhering to the government’s directives of 12 kilogrammes per head, instead they have been distributing food from the sympathy point of view since every person was in need of food.
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