The Zimbabwean government said yesterday that it would take control of the distribution of food aid, provoking suspicion that it will be channelled to supporters of President Robert Mugabe’s party, Zanu-PF, to help secure their votes in the forthcoming local elections. The minister of social welfare, July Moyo, reversed the government’s previous policy of allowing the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and other international charities to give relief directly to the millions of Zimbabweans who are going hungry. In a directive to the UN and the charities, he said that rural government officials and village heads would decide who should get food aid. Currently 3.5 million people are receiving aid, and the government expects the number to rise to 5.5 million by December. Some people are reportedly eating maize meal raw because they are too weak to carry it back home to cook. Full Story
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