Davison Marenga
ZVISHAVANE – Some cash hungry people in Zvishavane are engaging in brisk business trading mosquito nets that are being donated by the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (Unicef).
A number of vendors in flea market stalls provide a ready market for traders of the nets.
The vendors resell the nets at exorbitant prices of up to US$10, much to the dismay of other people who are yet to benefit from the Unicef programme.
Residents who spoke to this publication criticised the trade in donated mosquito nets as an insensitive act of greed.
They said most beneficiaries lie about their family sizes so as to get more mosquito nets than they actually need, with the remainder going the market.
“Ndonzwa kurwadziwa ndichiona umwe munhu achitengesa manets isu tisina. Vamwe vakutoita business nawo,” (It’s painful that some people are selling the nets when there are people who are in dire need of them) said Tawanda Murehwa.
“They are selling the nets to the already struggling people. This area is heavily infested by mosquitoes so these greedy people are profiting from a bad situation,” Fungai Sibanda.
Other residents said aid organisations must carefully vet their targeted beneficiaries before distributing mosquito nets in order to ensure that their generosity does not get abused.
Unicef has donated mosquito nets to many mosquito infested areas in Zvishavane.news
