ave the option to even go beyond whilst also paying in local currency.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono confirmed to CAJ News that the scheme launched a fortnight ago amidst controversy by President Mugabe is a means by the regime to try and appease a restless nation ahead of vital elections set for next year as well as a desperate attempt at saving the agricultural sector from the doldrums.
Gono confirmed that “beneficiaries have an opportunity to negotiate with us on how they will pay for the equipment and although we are saying the least time should be after one year, one can negotiate for even two or more years.
The thrust is to empower our farmers and the agricultural productivity of the country.”
He added: “We are also saying to the farmer who doesn’t earn foreign currency, they could pay in the local currency.”
The RBZ spent a massive US$25 million to purchase the equipment in a situation of serious foreign currency shortages causing the lack of fuel, vital drugs, water treatment chemicals and power.
Government sources said the money was raised from the sell of tobacco and ivory recently.
Given the culture of corruption and impunity that is part of the hallmark of the Mugabe regime style of management it is highly likely that the majority of the beneficiaries of the equipment could abscond paying.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary general Tendai Biti described this as “part of the misplacement of priorities by the regime which is a culture and has led the economy to these unprecedented levels of decline.
The main motive is to campaign for elections and appear to be addressing the agricultural
disaster we are having”.
With an unbridled high rate of inflation currently stalking Zimbabwe will ensure that the mark-up price of the equipment now would be almost negligible by the time the beneficiaries start paying next year or later.
The year-on-year rate of inflation is approaching 6000%. Mugabe’s regime tried to entice opposition leaders into accepting the agricultural equipment in one of its worst boobs of late as it turned out that the MDC officials had neither applied nor were interested whilst some of them are not even engaged in farming.
Some political observers said Mugabe tried to use the agricultural equipment to bribe the opposition and the same time create a semblance of normalcy in the agricultural sector, still on its knees since the destructive violent farm invasions of 2000- CAJ News.