BUCKET OF MAIZE AND FREE LABOUR : VILLAGERS RESIST CHIEFS DEMANDS

Villagers across Zimbabwe's rural communities are crying foul after traditional leaders reportedly ordered each household to contribute maize under the guise of the cultural practice of Zunde Ramambo/Isiphala seNkosi. Zunde Ramambo/Isiphala seNkosi is a long-standing cultural tradition, which is spearheaded by traditional leaders and is aimed at supporting vulnerable members of community.

However, villagers told NewsDay that the chiefs and his officials have introduced a new practice, demanding a bucket of maize from each household, supposedly for the initiative.

NewsDay established that the chiefs have since collected up to 10 tonnes each through the practice. Also, villagers were ordered to work in the chiefs' fields as part of the programme, providing free labour to cultivate and harvest the chiefs' crops during the summer agricultural season.

The villagers expressed shock that they were being asked to provide buckets of maize from their harvests.

Ironically, the supposed intended beneficiaries of the programme are also being ordered to deliver grain to traditional leaders, triggering outrage among villagers amid accusations of exploitation.

According to sources, some chiefs have been inspecting the grain, demanding high-quality maize and rejecting that which does not meet their standards.

It has since emerged that villagers were facing challenges in meeting the chief's demand for high-quality maize owing to poor harvests.

Due to the high cost of maize seed, some peasant farmers, who were unable to afford certified seed, resorted to ordinary seed that did not yield a good harvest.

Some chiefs are reportedly refusing to accept poor-quality grain, which has forced villagers to buy high-quality grain from the market to submit to the traditional leaders.

“We did our best with the resources we had, but the seed was expensive and we could not afford the seed from certified companies,” one village head said. “Now the chief is rejecting our grain and we need to buy so that we fulfil the requirement.”

Some villagers claimed that they are being forced to foot the transport bills to ferry the maize to the chiefs' courtyard, as they stay far from the leaders' homesteads, where the grain is being delivered.

The chiefs, however, claim that the directive to collect the maize came from government, adding that they are merely implementing policy.

In separate interviews with NewsDay, the chiefs said the grain was delivered to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) for storage and distribution.

“Yes, that's true, as chiefs we are collecting 10kg of grain from each household,” Chief Mukanganwi, born Munyaradzi Chapwanya, told NewsDay.

“The reason is that we want to have a grain stock so that in the future we can help those who need food aid, or in case of a drought, we would have enough to avert starvation.

“We are not forcing people, but we are writing down the names of those who would have submitted the grain. I keep the names, GMB officials keep a copy and the village heads also keep another copy.

“We are doing this as a directive from the ministry. As we are speaking, the majority of the chiefs in our district are done with collection.” Newsday

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