(Eagle News Service, Africa Bureau) — The church organization which sent 35,000 food packs to the Zambian capital of Lusaka for distribution to the poor residents there had issued a statement condoling with the victims of the March 6 incident and vowing to continue to help the poor residents in the area.
“Our hearts go out to those who lost their lives and were injured in Lusaka, as well as their loved ones. We are now getting a clearer picture of the hunger, the poverty and the desperation that must have driven those who tried to get into the OYDC (Olympic Youth Development Center),” the church statement said referring to the stampede that happened outside the event’s food distribution venue in Lusaka.
“As Christians, we came to Zambia to help And it is in the same spirit that we thank and support the Zambian government for their ongoing investigation and concern regarding this unfortunate incident,” its statement said.
The stampede last March 6 claimed eight lives as thousands of people lined up for free food to be distributed by volunteers from the church group.
According to eyewitnesses, the stampede was reportedly caused by impatient residents who did not have coupons but wanted to gain entry into the sports complex.
The food parcels included a 10 kilogram bag of mealie-meal.
The church had reportedly prepared food hampers for about 35,000 people, mostly from the slums of the city but more people turned up to receive the free food.
But the church statement said that it would push through with the distribution of the food parcels straight to their communities.
Liseli Mapeto, Director of Lesedi Seven, the group which managed the event, also said the food distribution activity would still push through.
“It’s not cancelled but it has just been postponed for us to go back and reflect. We also want to thank the police commissioner, and the police and the security officers and the community, especially our beneficiaries, for honoring us with their time this morning,” he said in an interview Monday at the cancelled food aid distribution in Lusaka.
Lesedi Seven was the company contacted by the Church of Christ to organize the food distribution activity in the Zambian capital of Lusaka. The Church of Christ had previously conducted such massive food distribution activities in South Africa, Kenya, and Lesotho.
Such activities had been always coordinated with the governments of those countries.
“Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) has partnered with event organizers and governments to hold Aid to Humanity activities in different parts of South Africa, Lesotho and Kenya,” the church statement said.
In these previous food distributions in South Africa, however, there had been notably no stampede incidents.
It was in Lusaka, Zambia that such an unfortunate event happened for the first time. Organizers also claimed they had properly coordinated with the government authorities prior to the holding of the event, and followed the procedures as laid down by law.
Eyewitnesses said the stampede happened even before the event could start at 6 a.m. which was the official opening of the OYDC gates.
But at around 5:40 a.m., the crowd started to push their way and broke the gates.
There were people who pushed their way in even though they had no tickets.
The stampede, thus, did not happen during the official opening or handing over of the food, they said.
It happened before the scheduled time, and before the police could arrive, they said.
A governance expert, MacDonald Chipenzi, said what happened reflected the “acute hunger situation” in Zambian communities especially in urban areas.
“What happened at the (Olympic Youth Development Center) has correctly brought to our attention the acute hunger situation people are facing in communities especially in urban areas,” told Xinhua.
Chipenzi said it was irrelevant for government to flaunt what it said was an improved economy when the people could not afford the price of a meal.
Based on figures released by the Millers Association of Zambia, an association of milling companies in the country, Zambia was food-secure with 915,000 tons of maize.
Andrew Chintala, the association’s president, said Zambia only needs 350,000 tons of maize until the next harvest season, which will start in April.
Chipenzi added the “unfortunate incident” at the OYDC was “due to some…on-state actors who are denying the extent of hunger and destitution in our country and communities.”
(with reports from Agence France Presse and Xinhua)