SOME Zanu PF activists in Gwanda South have been accused of fleecing hungry people of Nsimbi village in Gwaranyemba of money promising to source food for them.
NQOBANI NDLOVU STAFF REPORTER
Gwaranyemba villagers in the drought-stricken province are among the estimated two million Zimbabweans currently in need of food aid following the continuous dry spell that has affected the crops.
Nsimbi village headmen Misheck Ncube said hunger stalking the area had exposed them to conmen who were scamming villagers of their belongings and livestock in exchange for maize.
Ncube said only last week, villagers were conned of their money by Zanu PF activists who demanded $5 per homestead to source maize for them from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
“Villagers paid $5 per homestead which was said to be for fuel to transport the maize from the GMB depot in Gwanda to Nsimbi village,” he said.
“To date, we have not seen or heard from them, but we have alerted our MP about it.”
Gwanda South MP Edison Gumbo of Zanu PF yesterday confirmed the development and said he will visit Gwaranyemba tomorrow to find out what happened and ensure all villagers were reimbursed.
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“I have heard about that. I will be in Gwaranyemba on Thursday for a prize-giving ceremony and will take the opportunity to find out what really happened,” he said.
“Whoever did that is very cruel. I want to ensure that villagers would be reimbursed their money.” Gumbo called on the government to urgently intervene by providing maize handouts to villagers to prevent hunger-related deaths in his constituency.
“The food situation is critical and there is need for urgent intervention. People are starving in my constituency,” he said.
The government recently said it had begun distributing maize to hunger-stricken villages around the country.
However, most villagers continue going hungry awaiting the maize that the government is importing from Zambia under a government-to-government arrangement.
