Gvt cushions people living with disability

Leonard Ncube,Victoria Falls Reporter
GOVERNMENT has mobilised rice to cushion people living with disability during Christmas.

Intended beneficiaries have been asked to mobilise each other into formal structures for easy identification and distribution of resources.

Special Advisor to the President on disability issues Dr Joshua Malinga is on a countrywide tour distributing the rice to persons with disability with about 700 targeted in each province.

According to Dr Malinga, there is no clarity on the population of people with disability hence many are left out of programming.

First to benefit was Matabeleland North last week Tuesday before Matabeleland South, Bulawayo and Midlands got their share between Wednesday and Friday.

Distribution will today take place in Caledonia in Mashonaland East while tomorrow it will be in Mutare, Manicaland province.

Masvingo, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and Harare will be covered between this Friday and Monday next week as all the provinces have to be covered before Christmas Day.

In Matabeleland North, the main distribution centre was Lupane where more than 200 persons with disability gathered to receive the rice, while others were given their share at selected points in Victoria Falls, Hwange, and Binga among others.

Each beneficiary is receiving 4kg of rice.

In a brief speech in Lupane, Dr Malinga bemoaned sidelining of people with disability from developmental programmes, saying sometimes they are treated unfairly and not regarded as normal human beings.

“People with disability have full rights like everyone else. The world doesn’t recognise and treat people with disability as equals. In Zimbabwe we are privileged because people don’t kill the disabled as it happens in other countries but still we are killed through stigmatisation. What we are doing is to ensure that people with disability are fully represented. To be able to do this, we encourage all people with disability to get organised and join structures so that we have data. This will help in mobilising and distributing resources,” said Dr Malinga.

He called for urgency in the crafting of disabled persons Bill which he said will help protect people with disabilities and help them get into decision making positions.

“People with a disability are not treated with dignity yet they have the capacity to do everything that anyone else can do. They can get married and also represent their communities in different spheres of the society including becoming Members of Parliament. I think Zimbabwe is the only country with Members of Parliament that represent disabled.

It is up to us as disabled people to take the initiative and even embark on farming activities and move away from the mentality of living on handouts,” he said.

Some people with disability expressed concern about corruption and deliberate exclusion from programmes which Dr Malinga said should not go unchallenged as he urged those treated unfairly to approach his office and the Department of Social Welfare for investigation.

One of the beneficiaries, Mr Themba Siziba (52) who is a carpenter in Dakiwe village about 12km away from Lupane centre thanked Government for the gesture.

“Business has been very low because of Covid-19 hence we are grateful for this gesture since we were not able to provide for our families. I want to thank Cde Malinga for giving us hope that we can be self-reliant despite our conditions,” he said.

Mother of two minor children Ms Thembelihle Moyo (30) added: “This is an early Christmas. We will keep these goods and eat during Christmas. As a mother, I struggle to put food on the table for my two children and I am grateful to this donation as it will go a long way. We always appeal for more organisations to help us even financially so our children can attend school.”

Board member for Matabeleland North provincial board for persons with disabilities Ms Senzelwe Jubane said the donation could not have come at a better time than Christmas Holidays when every family wants some goodies.

“This is a timely gesture considering hardships that people are going through because of Covid-19 as we approach Christmas,” she said. – @ncubeleon