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Herald Reporter
THE distribution of maize-meal to some shops in areas such as Mabvuku, Tafara and Epworth in Harare, which was supposed to start yesterday, has been postponed due to a number of challenges such as delays in making payments by retailers and the expiry of some shop licences, among others.

Some operating licences allegedly expired on March 31 and have not been renewed due to the lockdown.

Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) chairperson Mr Tafadzwa Musarara said they were ready to deliver 600 tonnes of subsidised maize-meal in Harare.

“We want payment upfront. We have some informal traders who want to make payment, but we are saying we cannot give them the mealie-meal because they do not have operating licences,” said Mr Musarara.

A 10kg of subsidised roller meal is selling for $70.

Mr Musarara said that he was hopeful that deliveries will start today.

Epworth Local Board town secretary, Dr Wilton Mhanda appealed to GMAZ to supply subsidised maize mealie to all shops.

“We will deal with the issue of expired licences after the lockdown. We want to ensure that food security is achieved at each and every household in Epworth,”

The programme, which will be rolled out to other parts of the country is aimed at ensuring equitable distribution of mealie-meal and that the public conforms to the country’s National Lockdown policy.

There have been concerns that people queuing for mealie-meal in different parts of the country were failing to practice social distancing which is one of the key measures needed to minimise the spread of the coronavirus.