'Chimombe, Mpofu grounded Presidential goat scheme'

A top civil servant has told parliament that government was forced to abort the presidential goat scheme after jailed business partners Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu only delivered 6,978 goats from a promised 86,000 that had already been paid for.

Appearing before the parliamentary portfolio committee on Public Accounts on Monday, Lands Ministry secretary Obert Jiri said the programme docked when the goats were not delivered.

"The goats that were delivered to date, 6,978. The payment that was done was for the delivery of 86,000 goats.

"That was the potential that could have been delivered. So out of 86,000, only 6,978 were delivered.

"So, of course, the major bone of condition was this non-delivery, but before that it was the price for goods, which we tried to negotiate within the confines of the contract to say that goods must go to this, and I think we had agreed to a decent price.

"But even when we had agreed, the delivery could not happen," Jiri said.

Chimombe and Mpofu have been languishing in remand prison since June this year facing fraud.

Prosecutors say the charges emanate from tender documents submitted by the two men through a company called Blackdeck Private Limited in September 2021 when the ministry of lands invited bids for the supply of 632,001 goats under a scheme worth US$87,757,168 to distribute goats nationally, whose beneficiaries would pass on the animals to the next needy household after kidding.

Acting on the misrepresentations, prosecutors say the ministry went on to pay 30 percent of the contract in the local currency, an amount of ZWL1.6 billion which was allegedly equivalent to US$7,712,197 in two instalments on April 21, 2022, and June 29, 2022.

The court believed that the ministry was prejudiced of US$7,380,751.85.