Posted on 08/01/2002 3:57:38 AM PDT by Clive
Militiamen controlled by President Mugabe have lifted a two-month blockade on food earmarked for children in one of Zimbabwe's poorest districts, but distribution has resumed on restricted terms.
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe was forced to surrender control of its relief programme for 30,000 children in Zimbabwe's remote Binga district to three local Catholic missions, Father Tom McQuinnel, the head of the Binga parish, said.
The militia had accused the commission of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and demanded an overhaul of its operations.
"In order to get food moving and help the children out, we had to agree to these demands," Father McQuinnel said.
Distribution was allowed to resume last week.
On May 25, about 30 war veterans had sealed off the gates of a warehouse in Binga where 115 tonnes of fortified maize porridge was stored. Police refused to act.
The Batonka people of Binga are dependent on food aid.
In the 2000 elections, they responded to two decades of neglect by Mr Mugabe's party by voting for the MDC.
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