“We admit we owe ZESA a debt of $3,000 but they should not have disconnected us without discussing our payment arrangements which we had submitted. The farmers were willing to settle their debts after harvesting their crop during the first week of November,” said Newton Gwetu, one of the affected farmers.
Another farmer at the scheme, Charles Ndlovu said farmers had used a lot of money to buy farming inputs such as chemicals, seed, fertilizer, labour and hiring tractors.
“All our efforts have gone down the drain. I was intending to clear all my bills after the harvest but now I am stuck. I do not even know where I am going to get the inputs for the coming farming season. The government should assist us,” said Ndlovu.
The outgoing president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union), Donald Khumalo said the situation could have been avoided if the farmers had approached his organisation for assistance.
“What happened at Redwood is unfortunate. Farmers should always engage us and ZESA when they have such problems. We have approached ZESA on such issues several times and they have been very supportive. Everyone knows that things are bad for every sector that is why ZESA is willing to negotiate on payment arrangements,” said Khumalo.
Post published in: News