Zanu (PF) grab all
The Zimbabwean
Sunday, 16 December 2007 12:41
By Tracy Shoko
A traditional leader in Matabeleland North has accused senior ruling
Zanu-PF
officials in the province of grabbing all the farming inputs like
fertiliser
being distributed by the Zimbabwe government for free to boost
agricultural
production after successive years of food shortages.
Traditional leader Chief Madliwa in Nkayi, Nesigwe area says the
government
should probe the unfair distribution of farming inputs saying some
deserving
cases were left out.
Chief Madliwa told The Zimbabwean during a visit: "There was no
transparency in the distribution of farming inputs as most of the ordinary
people were excluded from the list of beneficiaries by senior Zanu-PF
officials."
The government says the distribution of farming inputs which has seen
beneficiaries take delivery of fertiliser and maize among other
agricultural
implements is meant to bolster the food security situation.
Zimbabwe has battled with a gripping food crisis after agricultural
production plummeted to low levels after President Robert Mugabe seized
white commercial farms and parceled them to landless blacks without any
farming expertise.
Chief Madliwa added: "Most ordinary people have also not benefited
anything
from the agricultural mechanisation programme as most of the machinery was
taken by Zanu-PF officials.
"The government should probe the unfair distribution of the farming
implements as they are meant to benefit everyone and not a select few
people."
Chief Madliwa's area of jurisdiction borders Kwekwe, Zhombe, and Gweru in
the Midlands Province, Chief Sikobokobo to the West and Chief Tshugulu to
the South. There are five headmen under him.
The agricultural mechanization programme has received 'massive' airplay
on
both state radio and television through musical jingles after every hour.
Musical jingles praising government policies have in the past been
dismissed
by analysts as propaganda material.
