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Cde Kasukuwere

Zvamaida Murwira in CHIKOMBA
More than $212 000 of the Youth Fund went down the drain after a piggery in Chikomba District embarked upon by the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment was plagued by viability challenges owing to poor management, legislators have heard.

The ministry, then headed by Cde Saviour Kasukuwere in 2012, withdrew $212 000 to carry out a piggery, ostensibly on behalf of youths, but the project collapsed without deriving any benefits, thus sinking all the seed money.

This came out during a tour by the parliamentary portfolio committee on Youth Development of the now defunct project in Chikomba on Saturday.

The committee chaired by Gokwe Nembudziya Member of the National Assembly Cde Justice Mayor Wadyajena is carrying out a fact finding mission countrywide supported by the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust to have an appreciation of how the Youth Fund was utilised.

Goromonzi MP Cde Beata Nyamupinga (Zanu-PF), asked Ministry officials accompanying the committee who were headed by deputy director for Economic Empowerment, Mr Taffy Mashonganyika, why they embarked on such a massive project without adequate technical know-how.

Cde Nyamupinga asked why they carried out the project without involvement of the local community, who were the supposed beneficiary. She said this had seen the massive project collapsing in spectacular fashion as there was nothing to show that there used to be a piggery project.

Mberengwa North MP Cde Tafanana Zhou, asked why the Ministry’s head office had not involved district offices as the committee had been told that the project was being run from head office.

Cde Wadyajena wondered why the Ministry would administer national empowerment projects when it had failed to superintend such a micro-project. “The Constitution of the Youth Fund we signed with Old Mutual allowed the Ministry to make investment on behalf of youths,” said Mr Mashonganyika. “If the project had succeeded, the youths were going to benefit a lot from the proceeds.”

Mr Mashonganyika said any business had inherent risks and that should not deter people from trying new ground. “When you are into entrepreneurship, you are like an ant, you pick everything that you come across that you feel you can derive benefit, that is what we did,” he said.

The legislators queried why youth officers and district officials in areas the committee visited were complaining that there were no vehicles to supervise projects, when the Ministry bought nine vehicles using the Youth Fund for all the eight rural provinces to enhance mobility.

The lawmakers accused Ministry officials, particularly at provincial level, of abusing the vehicles for their personal errands and left the supervision to the youth officers who would have to walk around their wards.

Mr Mashonganyika said the vehicles in some provinces broke down within six months of their acquisition.

Asked if there was no guarantee from the supplier, Mr Mashonganyika said there was a dispute between the Ministry and the supplier. He said the supplier of the vehicles was not convinced with the explanation on the circumstances surrounding the breakdown of the vehicles, leading to a delay in them being attended to.