HARARE- Zimbabweans reacted with anger on social media after a video and pictures emerged showing Zanu PF vehicles and supporters handling aid donated to survivors of Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province.
In the pictures, Zanu PF supporters dressed in party regalia are seen sorting donated kits, and a video which has gone viral shows a helicopter from the European Union delivering food and other critical supplies to Chimanimani, while in the background nearly a dozen marked and unmarked Zanu PF trucks load up on mainly food items, destination unknown.
Former vice president Joice Mujuru, who now leads the National People’s Party, said political parties should play no role in food distribution.
“Cyclone relief aid must be distributed to everyone affected by the floods. Distribution must be done by NGOs or even the church not by politicians. It’s a time to be coming together not further outcry,” Mujuru tweeted.
Human rights lawyer Alex Magaisa said “politicisation of aid for survivors of Cyclone Idai is deplorable but old habits die hard.”
“Zanu PF is simply behaving true to character. Shamelessly taking advantage of a tragedy to accumulate political capital,” Magaisa said.
Survivors of the cyclone which the government says killed at least 179 people, with over 300 missing, have told reporters that food was only being given to Zanu PF supporters, which forced Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa to issue a denial.
“The cyclone affected everyone and so no-one is being left out in relief aid distribution. Everything is being co-ordinated in a transparent manner and accountability is our hallmark,” Mutsvangwa is quoted as saying in state-run Chronicle newspaper on Wednesday.
Former MDC Senator David Coltart has called for an urgent investigation.
“This partisan and illegal activity must stop. I’m reliably told that the food contained in these cars has not been donated by Zanu PF but taken from supplies given by aid agencies and the Zimbabwean public. This needs an urgent investigation,” he said on Twitter.
Please tell the world what is happening here! pic.twitter.com/sujXqd6ApU
— Dr Nkululeko Sibanda (@DrNkuSibanda) March 26, 2019
Local Government Minister July Moyo, who chairs the Cabinet Committee on Environment Disaster Prevention and Management, told a news conference Tuesday that political party vehicles should not be used in relief aid distribution, even as he tried to find an excuse for the Zanu PF supporters.
“What could have happened is that Zanu PF youths offered to carry the food in the party-branded vehicles, leading some to assume that the food had been grabbed by Zanu PF for distribution to its supporters,” Moyo said.
He added: “Going forward, we have said nobody should be carrying food in their party cars. They should use the normal channel we have created.”
