Farmers in Manicaland & Mashonaland East arrested for abusing Command Agriculture inputs

Speaking at the 2016 business review conference organised by the Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce in Harare yesterday, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed that several farmers had been arrested in Manicaland and Mashonaland East provinces for abusing crop inputs under the specialised Command Agriculture scheme adding that prosecution was the best way to deal with such people.

Although he did not reveal the number of people arrested or the quantity of the looted inputs, The Herald reports that thousands of litres of fuel were diverted from the project. Said Mnangagwa:

Tinosunga (We arrest). So far we have arrested people in Manicaland and Mashonaland East who have abused these inputs.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.

He said 479 000 hectares were put under Command Agriculture against a Government target of 400 000 hectares and added that next year soya beans will be part of the project.

More: Herald