The Zimbabwean has gathered that GMB employees, arrested from Chegutu over the broader fertiliser scam, which also includes the mishandling and disappearance of locally produced fertiliser, have named three government ministers (names supplied) as the major architects and beneficiaries of the looting scandal.
One of the ministers, is said to have been found with 15,000 tonnes of fertiliser and is believed to have used a junior Zanu (PF) member’s buying number.
Confidential information leaked to this paper by senior GMB officials shows that employees of the national grain reserve had supplied information to the police. The information detailed how ministers manipulated the system to take the bulk of 800,000 tonnes of fertiliser imported from China. Â
Zimbabwe entered into a barter deal with China and secured the fertiliser, which agriculturists say could have lasted more than two seasons. However, the current season is already heading for disaster owing to acute shortages of fertilisers on the official market.
“The major way of getting the fertiliser has been using names and buying numbers of new farmers as well as their supporters but with all the fertilisers heading for common destinations at the end of the day,” said a source.
Senior police officials from the general headquarters in Harare, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this paper that the fertiliser issue had become “a dangerous hot potato”, following the implication of ministers, high-ranking police officers and army officials. Â
Independent investigations by The Zimbabwean show that the looting started in October after the Chinese consignment had arrived and was handed over to the
GMB, which planned for it to be distributed and managed along Zanu (PF) lines. A few farmers obtained the fertiliser directly from the GMB, but it was then declared finished, only to resurface on the illegal market. Large quantities were also smuggled to neighbouring countries.
On the illegal market, a 50kg bag of fertiliser is selling for up to Z$50m, when the
government-approved price is Z$560,000.
Agriculture Minister Rugare Gumbo declined to comment saying, “that is being handled by police”. All three implicated ministers professed ignorance of the matter.
Police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka said: “There have been arrests over the issue and investigations are continuing”. He declined to comment on reports of the ministers being implicated. – Itai Dzamara
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