Government yesterday received grain worth more than US$15 million from the Chinese government as part of efforts to help disadvantaged communities in Zimbabwe.
The donation - which is the largest amount the Chinese government has ever given to a single country - comprises 9 000 tonnes of wheat and 5 000 tonnes of rice.
The grains will be distributed to needy persons from Zimbabwe's 10 provinces.
Receiving the consignment yesterday at the GMB Norton Depot yesterday, Zimbabwe National Army deputy commander Artillery Brigade Colonel Ratham Moyo said the gesture would go a long way in consolidating relations between the two countries. The grain would be distributed through the ZNA structures.
"We really appreciate this effort. In fact, it buttresses what President Mugabe meant when he said no one would die of hunger (and) this gesture has come in handy," he said.
Col Moyo said the ZNA had been incorporated in the distribution to ensure highest possible levels of transparency in the process.
"At this moment grain is going to be offloaded at various points within the receiving provinces before it is distributed by traditional leaders for they are the ones who know the disadvantaged within their communities.
"Our part in this, as the army, is to provide security and ensure that deserving people are allotted the grain," he said.
He described relations between Zimbabwe and China as progressive.
"This move would go a long way in proving that the Chinese are our all-weather friends and that as a country we accommodate and appreciate only those expressing genuine interest in us," he said.
Economic and commercial counsellor at the Chinese Embassy, Mr Han Bing said the initiative would be a welcome relief to the underprivileged.
"We have received the list of the areas where the grain is to be distributed, across the country's 60 depots.
"We consider Zimbabwe as one of the most important countries in southern Africa and our relations date back to the liberation struggle. We have excellent ties economically and politically as well," he said.
Mr Han said plans to equip Zimbabwe in boosting food reserves were in the pipeline.
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The grain will be used as a strategy by Mugabe. He will distribute the grain to those deserving it as the article says,"Our part in this, as the army, is to provide security and ensure that deserving people are allotted the grain," he said. Which means that only ZanuPf supporters will get the grain.
I thought Zimbabwe under zanupf and Mugabe was such a success story that rice and wheat weren't needed? I would have thought with all the confiscated farms that the people would be over stocked with grains - of course with all the highly qualified new generation farmers who took over the old white commercial farms massive amounts of grain has been produced? Maybe this is a ploy by zanupf to show their new masters the Chinese how clever they are by saying it was the Chinese who provided the grains and how beneficial their relations with the Chinese are? What ever the reader decides we all know that zanupf will make sure only zanupf voters will get the grain!