Nyamandlovu villagers stranded for two days waiting for food aid

Villagers in Ward 10 of Bhuda Village, Nyamandlovu, in Umguza District, Matabeleland North, were left stranded over the weekend while waiting for food aid after the vehicle transporting the wheat broke down due to a mechanical fault.

Sources who spoke to CITE said the villagers were stranded in the bush as they also had to wait for authorities overseeing the distribution process, who had travelled to Bulawayo.

The delay was further compounded by poor road conditions, which forced the distribution to take place in a bushy area.

Some sources added that several villages were left out of the distribution altogether due to missing documentation.

“After waiting for two days, villages 3, 4, and 5 (Zimdabule villages), as well as villages 7A, 7B, and 14 (Igusi), did not receive any food aid because their paperwork was missing,” a source revealed.

When contacted for comment, Ward 10 Councillor Johannes Sibanda downplayed the situation, dismissing reports that villagers had been stranded for two days.

“The first thing is that two days means 48 hours, and I think the person reporting this does not understand what two days really means. The vehicle was carrying wheat, and it is not the first to use that road. Even buses travel on the same route. Yes, the road has potholes, especially now that it’s raining, but that is normal,” he argued.

However, in a contradictory statement, Councillor Sibanda admitted that the vehicle got stuck in a bushy area and suggested that the driver might have been unfamiliar with the route.

“Maybe the driver didn’t know the road, and different vehicles have different power levels. This one simply didn’t have enough power,” he added.

Regarding claims that some villages did not receive food aid, Sibanda dismissed them, stating that aid distribution was not meant to take place in the bush where the vehicle had broken down.

“It is not true that some people didn’t receive the wheat. Since the vehicle got stuck in the bush, alternative transport had to be arranged, which may have caused delays, but no one was left out,” he said.