PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s top ally and fuel mogul,
Kuda Tagwireyi, is once again on the spotlight after Parliament recommended
that a forensic audit should be done on the controversial Command Agriculture
programme, which has been marred by reports of corruption and misuse of
billions in public funds.
This was said in Victoria Falls on Thursday by the Felix
Mhona-led Budget and Finance Parliamentary Portfolio Committee during the
ongoing 2020 pre-budget seminar.
The Command Agriculture programme has since 2017 enjoyed
billions of dollars in public funding, which has largely not been accounted
for.
Auditor-General Mildred Chiri’s audit reports revealed that
in 2017, US$2,1 billion was allocated to the programme without Parliament
approval and supporting documents from the Finance ministry and the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe.
In 2018, another US$1,5 billion was also allocated to the
programme without Parliament approval in breach of the Public Finance
Management Act.
“To restore stakeholder confidence in the Command
Agriculture programme, and its credibility, the 2020 national budget must
provide for a forensic audit of the programme with the aim of weeding out
corrupt elements and recovering misused and abused resources,” the Budget and
Finance Committee report presented during the pre-budget seminar read.
“There is need to build credibility for the Command
Agriculture programme by abiding by the undertaking that selection of
beneficiary farmers and suppliers will be done in a transparent manner and
targets farmers with a good track record of honouring obligations,” the report
said.
This year, government announced that it will splash an
additional $2,8 billion for the Command Agriculture programme, which targets
the production of maize and soya beans.
While government has denied reports that the Command
Agriculture funds were abused, the murky deals to finance agriculture were
benefiting mostly Tagwireyi through his Sakunda Holdings.
Despite billions of US dollars and local currency splashed
into the programme, Zimbabwe continues to import maize at an inflated price of
US$600 per tonne from Tanzania and the country has also failed to end food
deficits.
The Budget and Finance Committee report showed that several
people had raised concerns on funding of the Command Agriculture programme
through the fiscus.
Some suggested that the Presidential Input Scheme must be
the one supported by the fiscus.
“Government must subsidise agricultural inputs at producer
level. The Presidential Input Scheme should also be availed timeously and in
the right mix to make meaningful impact,” the committee said.
The committee also urged Finance minister Mthuli Ncube to
adhere to the provisions of the Maputo Declaration of 2003 on Agriculture and
Food Security, which stipulates that expenditure on land, agriculture, water
and sanitation must be at least 10% of the national budget. Newsday
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