VP warns Command Agric inputs abusers President Mnangagwa
VP Mnangagwa

VP Mnangagwa

Senior Reporter
A NUMBER of people have been arrested in Manicaland and Mashonaland East provinces for abusing crop inputs under the specialised Command Agriculture scheme as Government tightens supervision to ensure the success of the programme. Speaking at the 2016 business review conference organised by the Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce in Harare yesterday, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa (pictured right) said prosecution was the best way to deal with such malcontents as Command Agriculture was being implemented on a cost-recovery basis.

He said the Government would not leave any stone unturned in the fight against corruption of any form in all sectors of the economy. Although he did not reveal the number of people arrested or the quantity of the looted inputs, it is understood that thousands of litres of fuel were diverted from the project.

VP Mnangagwa said the fight against graft should not be left to Government alone, but urged the private sector to also play ball in that endeavour. “Tinosunga. So far we have arrested people in Manicaland and Mashonaland East who have abused these inputs,” he said.

“That will send a message that these inputs are intended to grow the economy and also we are moving away from the dependency syndrome where people think that everything that comes from Government they can abuse and nothing will happen to them.

“The Command Agriculture is cost recovery. We give you a form. Suppose you have 100 hectares of land which you want to put under our programme, we know how much seed you will need for 100 hectares.

“We know how much you need. We know how much fertiliser you will need on 100 hectares of land again depending on the ecological region you are. We know and we know how much pesticide you want and we make the calculations.

“Then we ask you, are you able to come and collect the inputs yourself and if you say yes, then you fill a different form. If you say no then you will fill a different form and we will collect for you. So we are fully aware that it’s cost recovery. But we are urging those who abuse to watch out, we are ready.”

He said 479 000 hectares were put under Command Agriculture against a Government target of 400 000 hectares. VP Mnangagwa said the Command Agriculture scheme was funded locally in a clear testimony that the country had the potential to transform its economy.

Next year, VP Mnangagwa said, Government would also put soyabeans under Command Agriculture.

He said this followed a call from cooking oil companies that were importing the small grain, which is the major raw material in their produc- tion.

VP Mnangagwa said the cooking oil industry was one of the biggest beneficiaries of Statutory Instrument 64 and had so far registered significant positive results, among them increased production and employment cap- acity.

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