MINING and fuel companies with close links to Zanu PF have reportedly been roped in to fund the $500 million command agriculture scheme for the 2016/17 farming season, The Standard has learnt.
by PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa is chairing the committee that is superintending the scheme that the government believes is the panacea to the economic crisis haunting Zimbabwe since 2000.
The cash-strapped government may have made a coup on funding after behind-the-scenes negotiations were reportedly wrapped up with some big companies.
Sources close to the deals said leading fuel firms and mining giants had agreed to support the programme.
“The broke government has managed to exert influence on big fuel and mining companies to fund the ambitious project,” the insider said.
Minister of State in Mnangagwa’s office, Clifford Sibanda confirmed that the government had secured funding from the private sector.
“Yes, the government has found the money. Command agriculture has generated a lot of interest from private and corporate sectors,” Sibanda said.
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“There has been overwhelming support from everybody as they have seen that agriculture can revive the industry through provision of raw materials.”
However, Sibanda said he was not at liberty to reveal the firms that were funding the programme, referring the questions to Agriculture minister Joseph Made.
Made was not reachable on his mobile phone.
Senior military officers have been seconded to monitor the implementation of the command agriculture scheme at district level.
Sources said military officers with the ranks of Major and above were overseeing the project at district level. Army spokesman Colonel Alphios Makotore refused to comment when contacted to comment on the issue.
“I am not in a position to comment on that. You can try getting a comment from Colonel Overson Mugwisi who is in charge of Zimbabwe Defence Forces,” Makotore said.
Mugwisi, however, was not answering his phone.
This is not the first time the military has been roped in to monitor government-sponsored agricultural projects. It has in the past led the unsuccessful Operation Maguta where the government lost millions of dollars by supplying inputs to farmers who never produced anything, with many having sold the inputs on the black market.
Mnangagwa on Thursday told the media that the command agriculture scheme inputs would be in place by October 15 to enable farmers to start production.
