This finding was outlined in ZPP’s October 2024 monthly
monitoring report, as the nation grapples with a severe El Niño-induced
drought.
The crisis, which affected the 2023/2024 farming season,
has left both urban and rural communities in desperate need of food assistance.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the drought a
national disaster, appealing for $2 billion in aid to feed millions of starving
citizens.
While rural areas receive grain and urban populations cash
assistance, ZPP documented 13 cases of politicised aid distribution, exposing
the ruling party’s dominance over food allocation systems. The organisation
noted that these cases represent just a fraction of the abuse on the ground.
“The ruling party’s control over food aid allows it to
weaponise hunger, denying assistance to opposition supporters and targeting
perceived dissenters,” said ZPP.
This practice contravenes international human rights laws
protecting the right to food and freedom from discrimination.
Rural communities, already crippled by poverty and drought,
face coercion to support the ruling party or risk being denied essential aid.
The report highlights incidents such as forced
participation in ruling party slogans and the public renunciation of opposition
affiliations to access food aid.
In one instance in Silobela’s Ward 23, a male victim was
barred from receiving aid after questioning whether the meeting was political.
Traditional leaders are also implicated, with many
pressured to align with the ruling party, eroding their impartiality as
custodians of community welfare.
ZPP further documented cases in Manicaland, where
traditional leaders and local politicians colluded to hoard food aid, diverting
resources from the vulnerable.
In Buhera South’s Ward 24, a councillor allegedly diverted
40 bags of maize meant for the elderly, selling some under the cover of night
and allocating the rest to undeserving relatives.
The politicisation of food aid, according to ZPP,
exacerbates existing inequalities, undermines trust, and leaves marginalised
groups—especially women, children, and persons with disabilities—at heightened
risk.
The organisation urged government entities to address these
violations urgently and ensure aid reaches those in need.
“This insidious manipulation of food aid perpetuates a
culture of fear, repression, and impunity,” ZPP concluded. “It undermines
Zimbabwe’s democratic foundations and the fundamental human rights of its
citizens, perpetuating poverty and deepening inequality.” CITE
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