Two Zanu PF ministers and several other senior Zanu PF party officials are under investigations for plundering Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depots and looting inputs for the current agricultural season across the country.

The implicated ministers are, Didymus Mutasa, the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made. So serious was the looting by the Zanu PF big wigs, especially of fertiliser that small-scale farmers could not access the inputs which were targeted for them.

The looting has seriously sabotaged the country’s agricultural production leaving some regions facing serious starvation. Zimbabwe is facing a major food crisis after the Agricultural Technical and Extension Services revealed that only 247 000 hectares of maize was planted countrywide by December 31 last year, down from 379 993 during the previous farming season.

Recently, the Cabinet deliberated on the issue and instructed Made to provide details of from Zanu PF ministers and its senior officials got what and when. The GMB is currently compiling a list of those who plundered its depots.

Details show that Mutasa and Made, using their political muscle, each got 40 tonnes of top dressing fertiliser while some small-scale farmers waiting for the same inputs failed to acquire a single bag.

While Made, Mutasa and other Zanu PF ministers collected their inputs in trucks, villagers waited in vain with empty wheelbarrows. At most of the GMB depots, the senior Zanu PF officials grabbed and wiped out the entire stocks as helpless villagers waited under the scorching sun.

The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU), which represents the majority of the small-scale farmers, said most farmers had written off their crop after failing to
acquire fertiliser.

“There has been a massive shortage of AN fertiliser on the market. The acute shortage of that commodity would be the principal reason explaining the possibility of a reduction in yields this season,” said the ZFU chief economist, Prince Kuipa.

“It is a sad situation really and it is too late even if top dressing fertiliser becomes available. Most farmers have already written off their crop as a result of the shortage,” he said.

Senior officials in the Ministry of Agriculture said Zanu PF bigwigs took advantage of the policy inconsistencies and poor planning by Made to grab the
inputs from GMB depots countrywide.

They said there was now tremendous pressure on the ministry to justify its distribution criteria. As a result, the ministry last week directed GMB to stop
giving fertilizer to A2 farmers while other categories of farmers were limited to only one bag. “Please note that no fertiliser will be allocated to A2 farmers under the current input loan scheme anymore,” reads part of a letter written to GMB by the permanent secretary, Ngoni Masoka dated February 8.

This followed a December 28 directive from the ministry to allow GMB to give A2 farmers a maximum of 40 tonnes each of basal and top dressing fertiliser while communal farmers were only allowed to access 25 kgs.

After the directive, GMB generated an internal circular (79 of 2001) advising depot managers to follow the ministry’s instructions On January 11, the ministry issued another directive for the tonnage to be reduced from 40 tonnes to 20 tonnes after it became apparent the shortages were severe. The tonnage was further reduced, leading to last week’s directive to stop A2 farmers from accessing fertiliser.

“The problem is that by the time the tonnage was reduced most chefs had already acquired large stocks, leaving very little for the ordinary farmers and the majority of them lost out. This has caused serious problems,” said the official.