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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 21960, member: 2262"] The Zimbabwe Peace Project reports that corrupt practices plague food aid distribution in Zimbabwe, with many deliveries happening at night to hide wrongdoing. The group's October 2024 monitoring report reveals these actions hurt poor and elderly citizens who need help the most. The report points to 13 cases of unfair food distribution that month. One case stands out: a local leader in Buhera South took 40 bags of corn meant for elderly people. This leader sold part of the corn at night and gave the rest to family members who did not need it. Night-time food handouts let dishonest people steal supplies more easily, the ZPP explains. They say this shows deep problems with corruption in Zimbabwe's aid system. Politics makes the situation worse. Leaders from the ruling party use food to force people to support them. They deny food to anyone who thinks differently. The ZPP tells about a man in Silobela who could not get help because he belonged to a different political group. Party officials made him leave a meeting when he asked questions. People must say they back the ruling party to get food. This hurts many groups, like women, children, and people with health problems. Rural families face extra pressure because they already struggle with poverty and dry weather from El Niño. The ZPP found 184 cases where people's rights were ignored. These affected almost 2,000 people across Zimbabwe in October. The report shows 74 cases involved threats. People also lost their right to speak freely 22 times, and their right to meet with others 17 times. Bad things happened to people who spoke up. A man near Lawrencedale Primary School had his phone taken away and got pushed around just because someone thought he took pictures. Village leaders and police often scare people to keep them quiet, especially in rural areas. The report talks about Ernest Muzokomba and Denmore Maweni, two local leaders who threatened someone for talking on Change Radio about unfair food sharing. They said he would not get any more help from the government. Other problems included damage to property, mean treatment, and beating people up. The ZPP counted 787 women and 1,204 men who got hurt. Five of these people had disabilities. A separate case shows how leaders treat people badly. A village head in Chivi asked about changes to a development fund. Two officials, Mr. Tyeni and Mr. Njini, picked on him because he said their new rules would make life harder for families. [/QUOTE]

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