Zimbabwe's military has taken control of the distribution of food in the wake of Cyclone Idai after an outcry over the partisan allocation of aid in Chimanimani.
The army commander with oversight of the operation in the district, Brig-Gen Joe Muzvidziwa, told the Sunday Times the army had established a series of security checks to ensure donations reached the intended recipients.
"We have our members [soldiers] who record the inflows and outflows at exit points at the command centre. We are now using our own vehicles that will carry these supplies to wherever they must be received," he said in an interview.
There was a public outcry this week after Zanu-PF donated its vehicles to help in the distribution of aid in hard-to-reach areas.
The governing party had responded to an appeal by the government for people to volunteer their off-road vehicles for food-aid distribution.
However, parliamentarians and pressure groups raised a red flag, alleging partisan distribution of food aid by the party.
Human rights activist Farai Maguwu said there was "a high level of mistrust" over Zanu-PF's presence in Chimanimani.
Another human rights defender based in Chipinge, Claris Madhuku, said Zanu-PF members helping with the distribution wore their party regalia in Chimanimani - a clear attempt to use the natural disaster to score political points.
"The politicisation was so loud and clear, because apart from branded vehicles, people wore party regalia. It was meant to appear as if the ruling party is doing more than the opposition," said Madhuku.
The EU and UN also raised concerns over the "rumours and stories" relating to partisan food allocation and said these must be properly addressed.
The government appeared to have succumbed to pressure by imposing a ban on political parties from distributing humanitarian aid.
With the army now in charge of the distribution, the chances of politicisation have dropped.
"We have also advised the villagers and community leaders. They must look at the needs of every Zimbabwean regardless of whatever [political] persuasion and they must work as committees rather than individuals in the process of identifying the needs of those Zimbabweans," said Muzvidziwa.
"And I think that will add more transparency [so] that every Zimbabwean who has a need is assisted in the best way.
"We are taking aid from our centre in Silver Stream and distributing in Machongwe, Ngangu and Rusitu. So far we have allocation of nine 7.5t military trucks. We are already at the bridge to cross into Ngangu," he said.
Chimanimani is a highly polarised district. Both of its two main constituencies are controlled by Zanu-PF. In the elections last year, 27,249 voters in the district cast their ballots for Zanu-PF and 14,245 voted for other parties...