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Elderly hail President’s food relief programme

President Mnangagwa

Conrad Mupesa Herald Correspondent

Senior citizens in Mhangura constituency have praised President Mnangagwa and the Government for assisting them with food.

More than 10 000 elderly people have received maize and rice which is being distributed by Government in different parts of the country including Mhangura constituency.

In separate interviews, the elderly residents welcomed the move saying it was timely given the drought experienced last season and prospects of the same this season.

Mrs Erina Maziva (69) from Ward 2 in Gravelotte said the programme had so far enabled her to feed her orphaned grandchildren that she was looking after.

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She thanked their legislator Cde Precious Chinhamo-Masango, who personally handed over the rice to them to ensure transparency in the distribution of the aid.

Cde Masango

“I have been finding it very difficult to take care of my four grandchildren because of the the drought that we experienced last year.

“The efforts by the Government and the President to afford us access to food aid is a true sign that the new dispensation is people centred. Our MP has been handling the distribution of rice personally and this has shut out some of our local leaders who were taking advantage of our illiteracy and old-age to deprive us of food.”

Mrs Maziva also implored the legislator to do the same with the Presidential Inputs Scheme.

Mrs Awanji Goke from ward 11 said the 50kg bag of maize that they were receiving monthly had brought relief to her family which maintained a thriving two by one meter garden for vegetables.

When The Herald caught up with Cde Chinhamo-Masango as she distributed rice at Gudubu village in Ward 3, the legislator said she was happy with the flow of aid and no one would starve.

“The food aid, is an indication of how our President, Cde Emerson Mnangagwa, and his government are working tirelessly to ensure that the whole nation gets food,” she said.

“Our caring President knows that there are elderly people like you who cannot afford to plough or work in the fields hence the initiative where you get food for free.”

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She also outlined the work the First Lady Amai Auxilia Mnangagwa was doing through her Angel of Hope organisation and urged women to heed the call for them to go for cervical cancer screening.

According to statistics on the distribution of rice in the constituency, about 20 000 people including the elderly, have so far benefitted from the Government’s allocation of rice to the constituency.

HERALD