PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa and former Finance minister
Patrick Chinamasa have been sucked into a US$9 million saga for the
rehabilitation of Grain Marketing Board (GMB) silos fronted by millers, which
has become the latest subject of investigations by Parliament.
Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) boss Tafadzwa
Musarara yesterday told Parliament that his organisation released US$9 million
in 2016 following an approach by Mnangagwa, who was seeking funding for the
refurbishment of GMB’s dilapidated silos ahead of an expected bumper harvest
under government’s Command Agriculture programme.
Musarara appeared before the Justice Mayor Wadyajena-led
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture to respond to two issues
pertaining to whether GMAZ gave an US$8 million loan to GMB and whether it
received US$27 million from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to import wheat on
behalf of millers.
He claimed that GMAZ gave GMB the loan and that Mnangagwa
admitted that at one of his Zanu PF rallies.
GMB, however, denied ever receiving a loan from GMAZ, but
admitted having refurbished the silos.
“Sometime in late 2016, the then chairman of the Cabinet
committee on food security, now President Emmerson Mnangagwa, approached the
milling industry, saying Command Agriculture was successful and there was a big
harvest, but silos needed to be funded, but Treasury did not have the money,”
Musarara said.
“At that time, we were approached by the then Minister of
Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, who said government was desirous to seek a loan
from the millers to fund repairs of silos and we took the offer as millers. We
provided a funding arrangement through a term sheet and signed an agreement
with the Minister of Finance, which we have submitted to this committee.”
Musarara said the US$9 million was deposited into a MetBank
escrow account number 0107003279714 as a loan to GMB and, in turn, government
was going to sell GMAZ members maize at $240 per tonne and not $270.
He said auditors Baker Tilly Gwatidzo Chartered Accountants
confirmed that it was done, adding he had all the documents to prove it.
But the committee said it only had evidence that out of 105
GMAZ members, only two millers — National Foods and Parogate — participated and
got maize at $240, while smaller millers bought the maize at $270 per tonne.
GMB managing director Clemence Guta said the silos were
repaired using money from maize sales to GMAZ members and not through the US$9
million loan that Musarara claimed he gave them.
Musarara produced an audit report from Baker Tilly Gwatidzo
and a term sheet from GMB to the GMAZ financial advisers MetBank, who
facilitated the disputed loan facility.
Both documents were dismissed by Wadyajena, who claimed
that there was no mention of the term “loan” but financing.
Wadyajena insisted that the term sheet confirming the
disbursement of the US$9 million should bear the term loan, not financing.
Guta maintained that he was not aware of the loan facility
despite Musarara producing an audit report and a term sheet confirming his
claims.
“We never received any money from GMAZ and we repaired our
silos using money from sales of maize to millers,” Guta said.
“GMB never entered into any loan agreement with GMAZ for
any silo repairs. According to the Public Finance Management Act, we are
supposed to get authority to borrow, which we never solicited for.
“GMB never signed any term sheet to lend (sic) money from
GMAZ. What Musarara is referring to as a term sheet is a purchase agreement for
GMAZ membership to buy maize from GMB. Purchases ranged from $240 000 to $1,4
million and these cannot be loans in this inflationary environment.”
He said individual members of GMAZ, National Foods and
Parogate were purchasing grain at $240 while others got it at $270 per tonne.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube and Agriculture secretary
Ringson Chitsiko also told the committee that GMAZ did not give a loan to GMB
to repair the silos.
Wadyajena then asked Musarara about a video circulating,
where Mnangagwa told a Zanu PF rally that Musarara would give him money for the
silos.
“In that video, the President actually said Musarara has
given us the money,” Musarara responded.
On the US$27 million said to have been given to GMAZ for
wheat imports, Musarara said it was actually US$26 138 000 which went to an
international company called Holbart, which bought the wheat in question
through one of his companies, Drosky (Private) Limited.
He brought his accountant Chido Mumbengegwi, who explained
the transaction, saying that she had the Holbart contract to import the wheat
through the GMAZ Ecobank account facilitated by the RBZ.
GMAZ general manager Lynette Veremu said the agreement was
with 14 of their members that were wheat millers.
But Wadyajena said: “We wrote to Zimra and they said there
was no acquittal because all imports went through the borders, and we also
asked all border posts and they said there was no wheat imported by GMAZ. So
tell us how you used the US$27 million.
“Millers deposited the money into GMAZ account and not
Drosky to purchase wheat. We are going to call you again as Drosky and not GMAZ
to explain how you spent the US$27 million.” Newsday
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