Former Minister of State for Mashonaland West Province, Reuben Marumahoko, has been arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) on allegations of fraud.
According to ZACC, Marumahoko is accused of misrepresenting his capacity to plant 200 hectares of maize crop on irrigated land under the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) commercial farmers’ joint venture programme.
As a result, he received 2.5 metric tonnes of maize seed, 1300 bags of Compound D fertiliser, and chemicals. However, instead of planting the promised 200 hectares, Marumahoko allegedly planted only 46 hectares and disposed of the remaining inputs.
This has led to ARDA suffering a prejudice of USD 37,950.
Marumahoko’s arrest comes after his wife, Andy Maririmba, was arrested and appeared in court on November 9, 2024, for a similar offence. She is currently on remand.
Marumahoko was scheduled to appear at the Chinhoyi Magistrate Court today, November 12, 2024, to face the allegations.
This is not the first time farmers are arrested for misrepresenting their capacity.
Last month, Clayton Ngoda, a 46-year-old agro-inputs dealer from Mazowe, was arrested and charged with fraud for allegedly misrepresenting facts to ARDA.
ZACC made the arrest on October 1, 2024, after investigations revealed that Ngoda falsely claimed to have 90 hectares of irrigated farmland under his control.
As a result of this misrepresentation, ARDA disbursed two tonnes of maize seed, 36 tonnes each of basal and topdressing fertilizers, and 260 liters of herbicide to Ngoda through the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
However, instead of utilising all the inputs for winter wheat farming, Ngoda allegedly only used enough for 30 hectares and sold the remaining inputs, intended for 60 hectares, for personal gain.
