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Blessings Chidakwa in Kadoma
AT least 84 500 households in Mashonaland West province are benefiting from Government’s drought relief programme, with about 4 000 tonnes of maize being distributed monthly.

Social welfare employees distributed the maize on non-partisan grounds.

The Department of Social Welfare provincial head Mrs Agnes Mutowo revealed this recently while briefing Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Lovemore Matuke on the state of the province during his visit to Kadoma.

“The drought relief programme has been successfully implemented in all the districts, except for Kariba, which is giving us a difficult time due to its terrain,” she said.

“On drought relief beneficiaries, currently, we have a number of households and they are amounting to 84 552 and the actual tonnage per month which we are distributing is 4 227.”

Mrs Mutowo said the province was facing acute transport shortages, as well as lack of furniture in the department’s offices.

“We have eight motor vehicles in the province, most of them are very old and some have been condemned that they can no longer be repaired,” she said.

“We also have motorbikes, but staff members are untrained so they are just lying idle.”

Mrs Mutowo indicated that the disbursement of the drought relief funds in some instances has been erratic while hindering their operations.