By James Gwati- Anxious Masuka, the minister of Agriculture has directed members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) to investigate the theft of maize from the fields of a Chiredzi sugar company.
JOC is a military wing that comprises the Zimbabwe National Army, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Air force Of Zimbabwe, Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services top bras.
The Junta wing meets every week to review the state security situation and reports to President Emerson Mnangagwa.
“Theft of one maize cob is a threat to the district, theft of another cob is a threat to the province and theft of yet another is a national security threat. So I would like you as the JOC to investigate such theft while working together with your partner, Tongaat Hulett,” minister Masuka said this last week when he was touring Tongaat Hulett fields in Chiredzi.
The fields, have 700 hectares of sorghum and over 1 500 hectares of maize planted by the Masvingo Development Trust (MDT) and is being supported by Tongaat Hulet.
His utterances come hardly a year after the MDT chairperson, Lovemore Matuke, who is also the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare deputy minister, confirmed the theft of 1 446 tonnes of maize last year during a handover ceremony of winter maize by MDT to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) in Chiredzi.
Although Matuke initially blamed power cuts on the increased theft of maize, he later blamed the surrounding communities for stealing the maize.
But unconfirmed reports alleged that the Zanu PF leadership in the province was responsible for the theft, which they sold for personal benefit.
Chiredzi West MP Farai Musikavanhu, who is on the technical team of the MDT committee, told Masuka that some of the maize that was harvested was delivered to various wards in Chiredzi North constituency and might not have been stolen.
Last year, MDT was forced to deliver only 1 186 tonnes of maize, instead of the projected 2 632 tonnes. This was after about 1 446 tonnes were not accounted for in suspected cases of theft.
This year, it is suspected that more tonnes of maize would be lost through theft.
There are also reports that the MDT operates without a secretariat and a bank account and yet the organisation is one of the beneficiaries of the command agriculture programme.
-News Day