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Lloyd Gumbo and Diana Nherera Harare Bureau
Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa has assured parliamentarians that no Zimbabwean would be discriminated against from accessing maize that government is importing from Zambia on the basis of their political affiliation. He said it was government policy that all Zimbabweans were entitled to food aid in areas that were seriously affected by low rainfall in the last agricultural season.
VP Mnangagwa, who chairs the Cabinet Committee on Food Security, made the remarks in the Senate during a questions without notice session yesterday.
He was responding to concerns by MDC-T MPs that their supporters were being denied access to food aid that was exclusively given to Zanu-PF supporters.
“We don’t want people who discriminate when it comes to distributing food,” said VP Mnangagwa drawing applause from senators across the divide.
“Everyone in Zimbabwe has a right to be given food by their government because government is for everyone. We’ve already paid for the maize in Zambia so it’s coming. No one should be discriminated against on the basis of their political affiliation.”
He said food distribution was being conducted by councillors regardless of their political affiliation and as such no one would die of hunger.
The VP said he was not aware of the claims that some Zanu-PF MPs were distributing rice to party supporters.
He said it was uncultural for anyone to discriminate against people because of their political affiliation when distributing food.
Responding to another question on Zimbabwe’s position on the International Criminal Court, VP Mnangagwa said the country was not bound by its jurisdiction since it did not ratify the Rome Statute.
“What we’re concerned with is the trend because it’s towards arresting and calling African Heads of State when there’re other rogues across the world who are going scot-free including prominent leaders in prominent countries who did harm in Libya, Iraq and so forth.
“That’s why President Mugabe suggested at the Press conference when we escorted Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta that we should have ICC in Africa to try Europeans,” said VP Mnangagwa.
During the same session, Home Affairs Deputy Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, appealed to anyone with information on the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of MDC-T activist Itai Dzamara to provide the information to the police.
He was responding to MDC-T senator Morgen Komichi, who sought to know if there were any developments in the search for Dzamara.
Online Reporter