BULAWAYO residents have expressed concern over lack of transparency in the registration processes for drought relief cash transfers amid reports of corruption.
The residents said they were not aware of the criteria being used to register beneficiaries, adding that the programme could be abused.
An Urban Zimbabwe Livelihood Assessment report recently confirmed that about 35% of the urban population will be food insecure across the country.
Bulawayo Metropolitan Provincial social development officer Energy Mlambo recently advised that the Social Welfare Department will conduct a registration exercise from August 10 to September this year.
“Following the El Niño-induced drought that saw below normal rainfall being received in the country, it rendered some people food insecure,” Mlambo said.
“Accordingly, the government would like to provide cash transfers to 1,7 million [people] in the country’s urban domains. In order to facilitate this, enumerators have been recruited to undertake registration in all the urban households to ascertain the number of people who will require food assistance.”
He said ward child care workers, made up of enumerators from the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare ministry, would conduct the registration in wards 7 to 29.
However, residents said they had not seen the enumerators in their areas despite the fact that the programme or registration was expected to be door-to-door.
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A development practitioner specialising in monitoring and evaluation, Thembelani Dube, said the social safety net programme was meant to target vulnerable households after screening.
“However, residents have raised concern that enumerators do not enter premises where there are precast walls and gates.
“It seems the enumerators are simply doing random sampling using their discretion and in the process leaving out deserving vulnerable families,” Dube said.
A Bulawayo resident from Mpopoma said they heard about the registration programme earlier this month, but did not understand the criteria used to register beneficiaries.
“Something is wrong in the registration process. This programme is supposed to be a door-to-door registration programme, but I don’t think there is fairness in it because we have not seen these officers in our locality,” the resident said.
Some residents also condemned the secretive manner in which the programme is conducted.
“There is a danger that people who deserve to benefit will be left out, while those who do not deserve will benefit. Something must be done to ensure transparency in the programme,” they said.
Another resident, Ben Moyo, expressed fears of abuse of the programme.
“We are afraid that the programme could be confined to households belonging to Zanu PF supporters, hence the secretive nature that it is being subjected to,” he said.
However, Bulawayo United Residents Association chairperson Winos Dube said he was aware of the registration programme and had been sending communication to the structures to alert the residents on the programme.
“We are seeing those people on the ground, I am aware of this programme. As I talk, I had a reminder from the provincial officers about the programme and we have sent communication to our structures to communicate with the residents to be aware of the enumerators,” Dube said.
