Malawi Dismisses Mozambicans Claims on Food Rationing

Malawi Dismisses Mozambicans Claims on Food Rationing

The Nsanje District Council and the Malawi Red Cross Society have dismissed the allegations by some Mozambicans that they are being sidelined in the provision of food in camps for survivors of Tropical Storm Ana.

As of last week, camps for people displaced by the storm in Malawi’s southern region district of Nsanje had over 10,000 people with 2,491 of them being Mozambican.

The Mozambicans have been taking it to social media claiming they are being sidelined in food distribution.

Yohane Luka, one of the Mozambicans said, “We’ve stayed for three days with no food. The food being provided was only given to Malawians. Maize and maize flour brought here was being provided to Malawians except us.”

Nsanje District Council Spokesperson Robert Nayeja has dismissed the allegations.

“We have been providing food items such as maize flour and beans in all camps according to the population of that particular camp regardless of their nationality,” he said.

However, Malawi Red Cross Spokesperson Felix Washoni admitted that there were challenges in the first days in identifying the Mozambicans hence the delay to start providing them with food.

“The data from Mozambique was not available in terms of how many people have been affected. It took time for the Mozambique government to provide such details to the Malawi government for these people to be assisted.”

Washoni added that the identification procedure needs an assessment as well as verification to make a proper conclusion.

The authorities in Nsanje and Chikwawa districts have predicted a further rise in the number of people seeking refuge in IDP camps as more are still coming.

In late January, Tropical Storm Ana hit parts of Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar, killing about 30 people in Malawi alone. More others remain missing in Nsanje and Chikwawa.

The storm also heavily affected power distribution, leaving the country with half of its energy generation capacity-cut out.

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Last modified on Tuesday, 15/02/2022

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