Mwacheta Centre : Ward 16 in Chipinge West.

REF : Social Welfare Food Programme Alleged Corruption Activities At Mwacheta Area- R15 000 raised for one trip of a truck load of maize

A lot of things have been happening and the people have been keeping silent for fear of victimisation and losing the chance to get a share of the Social Welfare Food Programme maize.

The recipients of maize have been made to pay money as transport fees for the bags of maize from GMB Chipangayi,a distance of about 20km. Matters came to light on Tuesday 18 August 2020 at Mwacheta Centre, when an ordinary resident of Mwacheta area approached one of the officers from the Social Welfare Food Programme and asked for clarity on the exorbitant fees charged on the old and poor people of Mwacheta area in Ward 16 in Chipinge West constituency.The official clearly showed surprise and disbelief at the amount but somehow later recovered calm.When the programme started each recipient was charged US$1,then ZWL$5,later increased to ZWL$10,to ZWL$30 and finally this August each recipient was made to pay ZWL$120 or R25 per bag per head.
600 bags of maize are transported and offloaded at the centre,and *when calculated it means the transporting truck charges a whooping R15 000 for a 20km trip!*

This sudden increase in charges surprised the poor senior citizens who are not able to afford such an amount of money.
The hired transporter is a local business person from neighbouring Chibuwe area in Ward 20 of Musikavanhu constituency, and how could the local business person charge this much to his local fellows defies sense and logic!
When the Social Welfare Food Programme officer responded that the Social Welfare Food Programme covers most if not all costs,this somehow left the people in a state of shock and fury,demanding to know where the money was going all along. The Officer stated it was only this August that the programme could not cover the transport costs due to the challenges in accessing funds from the banks. . But still,R25 per bag per head amounting to R15 000 was an unrealistic fee that a truck can charge for a 20km distance.
This made people suspect that the local leaders in Mwacheta area were milking the poor people of their meagre and hard-earned cash. This has opened a can of worms as more information started coming from the previously fearful people.

The person who leads arrangements in going to collect the maize from Chipangayi GMB is not a councillor or Agritex Officer but a losing candidate in council elections of a certain party,by the name Gladys Muposhi. Information privy to this reporter says at one time Councillor Rephias Sithole Mapahla would go to the GMB to arrange for the Social Welfare Food Programme for Mwacheta area but there was a change effected from the erstwhile DA office where the Agritex Officer were given the mandate to run the show on procuring the maize,so Sithole was therefore relegated from being involved in this programme as per changes from the DDC office. But seems as it is Gladys Muposhi,together with her three lady lieutenants nicknamed ‘The Three Sisters’, who still is the leading figure in the receiving of money from the people and the transportation of the maize. No feedback is given back to the people on the break down of how the money is used,and they hold private caucuses under the darkness of the night,where it is allegedly said they share the spoils as the vanguard of the scheme.

The people of Mwacheta area therefore call for ZACC to come down and do investigations into this matter. How can a programme that is intended to help the poor turn into a money-making machine,squeezing the poor until they squeak.

The ordinary people are aware that President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is in the mood of doing away with corruption and corrupt tendencies by leaders at any level,right from the topmost to the ‘bottom most’,and as such the people demand transparency and accountability on the issue at hand,and the clamour for ZACC to act is getting louder and with a determined crescendo.

The same also is with the Presidential Farm Inputs programme. But for now the writer ends on Social Welfare Food Programme Corruption scandal rocking Mwacheta area under village heads Betura and Sarimana and Headman Dhumisayi.

Taramba Corruption. Taremba ngeCorruption. Tafa ngeCorruption.