Aron Mushaukwa
KATIMA MULILO – About 13 students from the marginalised communities in Zambezi Region have complained they have not been receiving their allowances on time.
The grants are from the Office of the Vice-President through the Marginalised Communities Development Division.
New Era was informed that at the beginning of this year, allowances, which are meant to sustain basic needs such as food and cosmetics, were delayed.
In January and February, the students whom most them are at Zambezi Vocational Centre did not receive their allowances and they were only given at the beginning of April.
However, up to now they are yet to receive their allowances for March and April.
People who are close to the students and speak to them daily are sympathising with them.
Those who spoke to New Era on condition of anonymity stated that most of the students are discouraged and some of them are considering quitting school due to the hardships, they are experiencing.
New Era understands that government is also responsible for providing accommodation, by renting them houses, and pay the landlords through an agent. However, their rent is also not being paid on time and landlords have on various occasions threatened to evict them.
“The office of the Marginalised Communities has side-lined them, and they have left them on their own, and remember they are not from that region, so they are struggling to fit in. Many times when they have problems, they call the agents – ‘our electricity has finished’ and so on.
“Even when one is sick, there is no one to help them get to the hospital, it is as if they are just dumped there to be on their own,” said the source.
Their agents blame the finance department in the Office of the Vice-President for the delay in the payment of allowances.
Efforts to get comment from the Marginalised Communities Division