Officials in trouble over wasted food aid as drought tightens grip

Five emergency management officials face disciplinary action for allowing 230 mt of food aid to rot in a military warehouse in Katima Mulilo, capital city of the drought-stricken northeastern Caprivi region. The Namibian newspaper quoted Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila as saying that she had instructed the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development to begin disciplinary action against the five Caprivi Regional Emergency Management Unit (REMU) officials. She declined to name the officials alleged to have acted negligently. Amathila said the government was shocked to learn in June that 18,400 bags of maize-meal had not been distributed to needy people in the aftermath of last year's flooding along the Zambezi River, which displaced thousands of people in the region. The government only became aware that the grain was rotting and being eaten by mice after a truck driver delivering a fresh consignment of aid alerted them to the situation. A recent government report said Caprivi's REMU had been negligent in handling flood and drought relief consignments. Meanwhile, the Namibian Early Warning Information Unit (NEWFIU) has warned that the Caprivi region will need urgent food aid after the failure of this year's maize crop due to drought and floods. NEWFIU said the harvest of 2,100 mt was 76 percent lower than last year's: flooding had delayed planting, and dry spells later in the cropping season had decimated crops, said NEWFIU assessment officer Lawrence Losper. "The drastic reduction of food in the [Caprivi] region is currently a major concern," he commented. "Based on our research, the crop harvested per household will not be sufficient to carry them through to the next harvest." Losper said the situation in the Caprivi region was becoming chronic, as "every year there is a certain level of food shortage being experienced throughout the region due to poor and erratic rainfall". EMU deputy director Gabriel Kangowa told IRIN there was as yet "no indication" of the number of people who might be food insecure. "We know that after taking into account local production, the expected commercial imports, etc ... we will still have a national [food] deficit of 67,655 mt," he said. "The Caprivi region has been the hardest hit ... although, because of the erratic rainfall we might find pockets of need around the country," Kangowa noted, adding that the government had to "analyse the situation carefully" before making any decisions regarding food aid programmes. He said it was likely that the state would first call for tenders from commercial importers to fill the food gap.