Obert Mpofu storms GMB depot

ZANU-PF Secretary-General, Dr Obert Mpofu, stormed the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) Lupane depot last Thursday after learning that three truckloads with Presidential inputs had been parked there for about two months, allegedly due to lack of fuel.

The seed was destined for wards in the Lupane East constituency. Seething with frustration, Dr Mpofu said the behaviour by the State institution and the transporter amounted to sabotage more so at a time when there is an impending by-election, which the ruling party expects to win resoundingly.

Phathisiwe Machangu is representing the party and indications are that she will romp to victory, judging by the turnout of the people at her rallies. Dr Mpofu learnt of the seed-distribution delays at Makhekhe Primary School in Ndimimbili Village during an interactive session with villagers after his campaign rally.

He was informed that villagers were yet to receive the inputs and they were now afraid that they would miss out as planting time was running out. Upon inquiry as to why seed has not been delivered to the people, Dr Mpofu was informed that the transporter alleged challenges with fuel.

He directed party chairperson for Lupane, Permanent Sibanda, to immediately look into the matter and make sure the seed got to the people on time. Before the end of the session, Sibanda informed the villagers that the fuel challenge had been sorted and the trucks would deliver the inputs the very next day.

However, Dr Mpofu was not convinced by the announcement and made an undertaking to drive to the depot, stationed at the business centre, about 85km away from Ndimimbili.

Upon arrival at the depot, he was informed that the trucks had indeed been parked for two months. Dr Mpofu immediately phoned senior GMB officials in Bulawayo demanding to know why nothing was being done to secure fuel only to be told that the transporter had somehow managed to pay for the fuel.

"This is unacceptable, fuel has suddenly been secured simply because I have made noise about this matter. This is clear sabotage and we are going to demand answers," said the former Cabinet minister.

"The President has gone out of his way by providing inputs for the people to make sure no one starves yet some people are throwing spanners and crucially and quite strangely, this is happening at a constituency where we are having by-elections. This will never be taken lightly, I can assure you," said Dr Mpofu.

He said failure to deliver the inputs was a well-calculated ploy to soil President Mnangagwa and the party's name possibly by people in leadership positions either in Government or even within the party.

"How else can this unfortunate situation be explained? Our people cannot fail to access seed by a mere lack of fuel and there is no communication about that. Had we not interacted with our people we were not going to know about this," said Dr Mpofu. "This is sabotage and saboteurs will have to be identified. The President must know these people, they shall be dealt with, that can be assured."

The drivers told Dr Mpofu that the trucks did not have enough fuel to move to the fuel station, 400 metres from the depot.

"All this means that these trucks had just enough fuel to arrive here at the depot and not go anywhere else. It's just nonsense," said Dr Mpofu. He had to purchase 20 litres of diesel for the trucks to be able to get to the fuel station. The Presidential input scheme is open to every Zimbabwean and its core objective is to empower citizens at the household level to produce enough yields for national food security.