Deputy Prime Minister John Mutorwa is concerned about the delays in the distribution of drought relief food in the regions. 

Mutorwa visited the Kavango East Region to acquaint himself with the exercise. 

More than 44,000 people have been affected by the drought in the Kavango East Region. The region received its first consignment of drought relief food in October last year.

Mutorwa stated that the government considers the drought relief programme a high priority.

"The issue of unemployment in the country is a fact; we have poverty in the country, but this Drought Relief Programme is specifically geared towards providing relief in terms of food provision and some other amenities to those who are victims of drought because there is no harvest from the fields, but the government also has other programmes to deal with general poverty and to deal with marginalised communities. If you look at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, if you analyse the figures of their budget, a large percentage of the budget of that Ministry is for the welfare of the people." 

The Chairperson of the Kavango East Regional Council, Damian Maghambayi, said the team on the ground is committed to the distribution process but highlighted some challenges in the exercise.

"Currently, we only have two private trucks that we have hired, two trucks that we have also retained from the Namibian Defence Force, and two from the regional council. Because of the nature of our roads, sometimes when food is being distributed, especially inland, we expect some breakdowns or tyre punctures. You name them, and this is happening concurrently. Therefore, I think those are some of the challenges that we are experiencing, but we are therefore ensuring that beneficiaries receive food aid that is meant for them. During the last rainy season, to be honest, our people tried, but then the harvest was not something that we could rely on, and equally, for those that managed to get something, we have again the continuous conflict with human-wildlife conflict."
 
The Deputy Director for Disaster Management, Helen Likando, also responded to concerns about the quality of the maize meal being distributed.

"I have had this not only here in Kavango East in Rundu but nationwide. There is a concern about the unsifted maize meal that is being distributed for the drought relief programme. Let me assure the nation that we will do our best from now on. We will sample the number of bags that are in the warehouse. I will take them along to Windhoek and be able to test them so that we can determine the suitability of this food and whether it's really fit for human consumption. If the report that I am hearing now is that it's making people sick, we will test the food."
 
Drought relief beneficiaries receive parcels containing maize meal, soya mince, tinned fish, and cooking oil.