society such as older persons was also being distributed along party lines. 3.5. The 4th complainants are members of the MDC-T party resident in wards 2 and 17 of Muzarabani North and South. Complainants alleged that the government started a food deficit mitigation programme in October 2015 to assist the elderly, disabled, the chronically ill and vulnerable households, which had only benefited ZANU PF members. 3.6. In both Mazowe Central Constituency and Bikita East Constituency it was said that older persons aged 70 and above who were no longer engaging in party politics were being denied aid on the basis of the political affiliation of their children or grandchildren. 3.7. The complainants also made a crosscutting allegation that distribution committees (which are made up of Village Committees who are responsible for compiling lists of vulnerable and deserving community members for onward transmission to the responsible Ministry and also oversee the distribution of food aid) of the respective wards and constituencies are controlled by ZANU PF party officials who dictate who should or should not be given food aid. In Bikita East Constituency it was particularly emphasized that the Village Chairmen and their secretaries who are also officials of the ruling party, ZANU PF, told the complainants in the vernacular Shona language; in the presence of all the other villagers that, “Vechinja havafe vakawana chikafu” meaning those who are affiliated to the MDC-T will never get food aid. They further alleged that the distribution committees ensured that they would never benefit by writing their names at the bottom of the list while some were cancelled from the list by Village Secretaries. Similarly in Buhera North the District Administrator who oversees the distribution of food at district level is also said to have uttered the statement that Page 5 of 21