Vice President Michael Usi has cautioned officials working under the lean season food insecurity response program against politicizing or stealing relief items.
Usi made the call on Monday in Balaka district as he led a relief items distribution exercise by the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA).
The vice president said he was concerned with the tendency of some individuals who have plans to distort the implementation of the program for their benefit.
“As you can see, these people are in dire need of support. So, we need to respond decisively as directed by the state president,” Usi said.
He added: “Let us be honest, patriotic and kind to one another so that these people are helped accordingly.”
Usi also urged the officials to distribute the relief items without looking at one’s political or religious affiliations.
“It is ethical that everybody eligible to receive the items should receive them without any hindrances, whether because of either religious or political affiliation,” he said.
One of the beneficiaries, Margaret Master, from Traditional Authority Nsamala in the district beamed with excitement after receiving a 50-kilogram bag of maize. She said the assistance had come at the right time as she had no food in her house.
Meanwhile, a member of parliament for Balaka West constituency, Bertha Ndebele, stressed the need to scale up relief intervention programs as the hunger situation has reached a pathetic stage in her area.
Before commissioning the exercise in Balaka District, Usi was also in Mangochi District on a similar exercise.
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