Government,
Zanu PF officials and police have been fingered in several incidents.
Most of the
looted inputs are sold to unscrupulous people, who resale them to desperate
farmers for a song.
In a statement,
Zacc said it had arrested a Karoi police officer, Gideon Msambakurima, on
allegations of defrauding the Agricultural Rural Development Authority (Arda)
of over US$4 700 worth of fertiliser.
Msambakurima
appeared before provincial magistrate Vakai Douglas Chikwekwe at Chinhoyi
Magistrates Court on February 18, 2025, and was remanded to March 4, 2025, on
US$200 bail.
“It is the
State’s case that the accused joined the Arda joint venture farming programme
and was given eight metric tonnes of calcium ammonium nitrate fertiliser for
his 20-hectare maize plot,” Zacc said in a statement.
“Weeks later,
he allegedly used the same batch number to obtain an additional six metric
tonnes of Windmill ammonium nitrate fertiliser, despite having exhausted his
allocation.”
In another
case, Zacc arrested three individuals, including a Zanu PF councillor, for
allegedly stealing and selling farming inputs.
Zanu PF
councillor Linda Chishamiso, former Grain Marketing Board worker Enita Choga
and Crispen Makoni appeared before Mutare magistrate Annie Ndiraya and were
granted US$200 bail each.
They face a
charge of theft as defined in section 113 of the Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23].
“The trio
allegedly conspired to divert 400 50kg bags of fertiliser worth US$12 000 and
sold them in Rusape,” Zacc said.
Presidential
farming inputs have flooded several markets in Harare and other cities.
Government says
it has since mobilised over 360 000 tonnes of inputs, including seed and
fertiliser, to support smallholder farmers.
Government is
targeting cereal production of 3 512 658 tonnes — 2,8 million tonnes of maize
and 712 658 tonnes of traditional grains and oil seed — which are enough to
meet the country’s human consumption requirements.
The country
needs about 2,2 million tonnes of grains annually.
Several tonnes
of fertiliser meant to be distributed under the Presidential Inputs Programme
have been recovered, as the authorities intensify efforts to curb
misappropriation of inputs by unscrupulous individuals. Newsday
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