Dodma disputes Shanil’s claim that it distributed 5kg maize to families instead of 50kg

Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) has described the statement made by Balaka West parliamentarian, Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri as gross misrepresentation of facts that the government distributed a mere five kilograms of maize to food insecure families instead of 50kgs in the just ended once off  relief maize distribution.

DoDMA spokesperson Chipiliro Khamula says each food insecure household received a 50kg bag of maize and not 5kgs.

“The facts of the matter are that between September and November this year, DoDMA distributed relief maize to 432,729 acute food insecure households in 26 of the 28 districts of the country pending response to the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee’s report.

“The department wound up the  distribution exercise this month (November),” said Khamula in a statement made available to Nyasa Times.

“As the government agency responsible for coordinating the implementation of disaster risk management programmes in the country, the department administered the distribution exercise, in close consultations with district councils.

“It is, therefore, gross misrepresentation of facts to state that beneficiaries received maize in quantities less than 50kg per household.

“Sharing amongst beneficiaries at household level does not take away the fact that a household was given 50kgs as budgeted for as according to DODMA’s family audit through traditional and political leaders.

“So it is fair to say that DODMA did its part by handing out 50kgs bags to each household as per the budget and information provided by councils with regard to food situation,” Khamula said.

In Parliament on Thursday, Shanil confronted and challenged Minister of Homeland Security Nicholas Dausi families of 10 are sharing a bag of 50kgs and this means that they are getting just 5kgs.

Shanil must have caught Dausi off guard. She did acknowledge that a household did receive 50kgs but in her assessment, one household can have up to 10 people.

Khamula said the beneficiaries of the once-off relief maize are among the 3.3 million people DoDMA is targeting to reach out to with food assistance. The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee response runs from November 2018 to March 2019.

DoDMA is under Ministry of Homeland Security.

Meanwhile, Dausi said the government is ready for any disaster following predictions by weather experts that this year’s rains will be heavily accompanied by storms and heavy winds.

The minister has been in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mwanza handing out relief items to those affected by the storms and heavy winds which destroyed their houses and other property.

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