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Manicaland Bureau
Parliamentary Portfolio Committees have been urged to call for enhanced accountability of resources extended to the agricultural sector as part of their oversight role.

Speaking at a capacity-building workshop for the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture and Climate and the Thematic Committee on Indigenisation and Empowerment in Mutare last week, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Tsitsi Gezi said the country needed a complete shift in the manner in which agriculture is managed.

“As such, I am appealing to the two committees here represented to call the Executive to account so that we have a vibrant agricultural policy,” she said.

Cde Gezi said the country needed to increase productivity by farmers so that the country realises its vision of becoming a middle-income country by 2030 through the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP).

She said for this to happen, more resources should be channelled to the agriculture sector and urged members to exercise their oversight role on these resources to ensure that they were not abused.

Cde Gezi said it was important for the committees to expose corruption wherever it reared its ugly head.

“I have heard of reports of corruption in the sourcing of inputs, their distribution and allocation,” she said.

“This must not be tolerated if we are to raise productivity. We must not only do the right thing, but we must also remain true to our conscience as honourable members that public resources are sacred.”

Cde Gezi urged parliamentarians to expose malpractices that continue to plague the public sector and to interrogate the performance of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) that fall within their purview.

She said non-strategic entities must be disposed of so that they do not continue to burden the fiscus.