Lands Perm Sec sucked into massive corruption involving farm inputs

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri, has been sucked in corruption allegations involving the illegal grabbing of Presidential inputs for the alleged benefit of his ally Effie Zituta.

Documents obtained by Nehanda Radio reveal a transaction allegedly performed by Prof Jiri involving the official channeling of ninety metric tonnes of top dressing fertilizer the Zanu-PF Chipinge South Constituency.

Nehanda Radio understands that the leadership in the constituency did not order any inputs, and they have since refused to be associated with the scandal.

We understand that a report has since been made to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) by disgruntled members of Zanu-PF.

Prof Jiri made the approval using the Rural Presidential Input scheme as a launchpad to facilitate a personal benefit together with his accomplice Zituta.

According to the documents, the request was made on 12 January 2024 by Zituta claiming that she had been sent by the Zanu-PF Chipinge South Constituency.

“We kindly request the support of your Ministry under the Presidential input support programs for Chipinge South Constituency.

“As Zanu PF Chipinge South Constituency, we are working tirelessly to empower our people through various programmes, including this Rural Presidential Input Support,” Zituta made the request allegedly without the knowledge of the party.

Accordingly, at the behest of Prof Jiri, on 24 January 2024, Leonard Munamati, Acting Chief Director in the Agricultural Advisory and Rural Development Services (ARDAS) approved the request, which saw “at least ninety metric tonnes of top dressing be delivered at Chipangayi Grain Marketing Board.”

“A request was made through the Secretary Prof. Obert Jiri on the need for fertilizer as stated above. The Secretary did not object.

“May you facilitate that at least ninety metric tonnes of top dressing be delivered at Chipangayi Grain Marketing Board as soon as possible for application to crop which is now due for topdressing,” Munamati said in a letter copied to Prof Jiri.

Against this background, Zanu-PF Chipinge South Constituency leadership approached ZACC saying they were not aware of this transaction, implying that Prof Jiri and Effie Zituta had engaged in criminal activity.

The matter is yet to be addressed by the authorities.

The government of Zimbabwe has a deep-rooted behavior of distributing presidential farming inputs on partisan lines, a culture that has been responsible for dividing communities over the years.

Efforts to get comment from Jiri proved unsuccessful at the time of publishing.

He picked up the phone and said: “I will respond when I get time. Right now, I’m busy”.

Ironically, on the day our story was being put together (31 January 2024) Jiri took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote;

“The abuse of farming inputs is a grave offense. The ministry, in collaboration with law enforcement agents and other stakeholders, is cracking down on those involved in the illicit sale of inputs. Perpetrators will face prosecution. BE WARNED! #FoodSecurityEverywhereEveryday.”