Relief food yet to reach the hungry in Taita

• Traditional brews badly affected by maize shortage and absence of patrons

As the country grapples with the daunting task of feeding 10 million famine-stricken people, the fate of more than 110,000 in Taita hangs in the balance; the whereabouts of a huge consignment of famine relief maize allocated to the district a month ago remains unknown.

The government last month had allocated 2,000 bags of maize for distribution to starving families, but this has not been received at the National Cereals and Produce Board depot in Voi.

Education assistant minister Calist Mwatela said on Monday the allocation was just on paper and had not physically reached the NCPB stores.

The last time the district received famine relief food was two months ago while famine was spiralling out of hand as more and more people continue to need food aid.

Mr Mwatela said the food crisis was a national problem and accused the media of blowing the hunger situation in the district out of proportion. The MP has been severely criticised by his constituents for allegedly failing to address their plight.

“My people are very intelligent and have understood that famine is a national disaster and they cannot blame me on that. These claims that I have neglected my people are just but a creation of the media,” he said.

Mr Mwatela, the Mwatate MP, said he had toured various parts of the constituency but no one complained of neglected.

This comes at a time when desperate farmers have started cutting withered maize stalks to feed their livestock as they count their losses following the widespread drought.

Farmer Tobias Mwadime said he was relying on the maize stalks which he is selling to livestock farmers to buy food for his family of three children.

Speaking at his Mblinyi farm, Mr Mwadime said he had lost hope of harvesting anything as the crops had reached maximum wilting point.

“I have not seen the MP in this area since November last year, and if he has come here, he came for a personal visit,” he said.

A spot check by the Nation showed that posho mill operators were almost closing shop for lack of maize supplies.

Mr Faustine Cherenje, a posho mill owner at Kwa Mnengwa trading centre said the number of customers had drastically declined.

“I have in good times been able to grind up to 300 kilogrammes per day but this time even getting 50 kilogrammes is sheer luck,” he said.

He said the decline did not mean people had stopped eating, but that they were going without food or had resorted to alternative means of survival.