Human Rights. The ZHRC, in investigating this matter took into consideration submissions made by the respondent. 4.1. Desk Research 4.1.1 The ZHRC conducted extensive research into the legal framework governing human rights locally, regionally and internationally. This was done in order to, identify and assess the human rights that were violated by the respondents through partisan distribution of food aid. 4.2. Interviews 4.2.1 Individual interviews were conducted with ward members, complainants and their families in all constituencies. This method helped the team to gather a wealth of detailed information, a deep insight and full details of the allegations. The individual interviews created an accepting environment that put participants at ease allowing them to thoughtfully answer questions in their own words without fear of reprisals. Complainants who are members of the opposition political party, MDC-T, were also interviewed in order to get first-hand information of the situation. An interview guide which extracts qualitative data was developed and used to facilitate interviews. The complainants and key informants were interviewed at their respective homes. 4.2.2 The crosscutting observations from the interviews revealed that people in positions of influence, chiefly the ruling party, ZANU PF, continue to manipulate the distribution of food and other forms of aid from different sources through partisan distribution. Page 8 of 21