Shepherd Mukaka, 35, of Rusape was slapped with a seven-year jail term for abusing inputs worth over $2,000 which were meant for the government’s Command Agriculture scheme. Mukaka was convicted and sentenced by magistrate Shane Kubonera. He was facing fraud charges.
The court heard, Mukaka pretended to be a farmer and was given 5x25kg bags of maize seed, 32x50kg bags of compound D and 24 x 50kg bags of Ammonium Nitrate for the exercise. He diverted these inputs to other uses.
When Mukaka was approached by a district verification team he took them to his relative`s Arrafat farm in Rusape. The officers were satsified with the progress at the farm. However, the relative who owned Arafat farm, Farai Mapako, approached the verification team and disclosed that the farm they were shown by Mukaka was his leading to Mukaka’s arrest.
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