[I am curious why they are importing fertilizer from S.Africa. I could swear that in the days of Rhodesia we manufactured our own fertilizer. But anyway…

Dear Bob the bloody Gob kept saying farming was easy and why could only whites farm and why can’t blacks NOT farm? Well, dear Uncle Bob… thy Racist Gob… it appears to me, you blacks are experiencing some “difficulties” hey? So it wasn’t quite as EASY as all of you black liars thought it was hey? May you and your assorted scumbag supporters STARVE TO DEATH!! I will enjoy the show! Will someone please pass me the popcorn? Jan]

An enraged President Robert Mugabe last week hauled central bank governor Gideon Gono over the coals after learning from The Standard the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had played a part in importing fake fertiliser from South Africa. Last week, The Standard reported alarm over the importation of 70 000 tonnes of fertiliser from South Africa, which both the GMB acting chief executive Samuel Muvuti and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made, condemned as unsuitable. Made has ordered farmers to stop using any suspicious fertiliser, promising them compensation. Presidential spokesperson George Charamba yesterday confirmed that Gono was summoned by Cabinet to explain the controversial deal that is likely to bury this agricultural season. Gono on Monday appeared before the National Economic Recovery Council (NERC), at which he sought to exonerate himself of any wrongdoing. The NERC was chaired by Vice-President Joice Mujuru. But determined to get to the bottom of the matter, Mugabe convened an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on Thursday at which Gono was asked to explain how the “sub-standard” fertiliser had been imported.

Gono confirmed that he had been asked to explain the controversial fertiliser deal after both Mugabe and the Cabinet had “taken a keen interest in the story that was published by one of the weekly papers last Sunday”. But he denied being roasted during the specially convened Cabinet meeting on Thursday. He claimed the poor quality fertiliser was between 160 and 800 tonnes and worth between US$50 000 and US$300 000. Gono accused unnamed ministers and government officials of “grandstanding and deliberately misrepresenting facts” about the imported fertiliser. He said: “The recent fertiliser furore is a tip of the iceberg in a growing tragedy of misinformation, which is designed to (152)˜rubbish™ the efforts of those trying to make a positive difference to our economic turnaround and instead, sow seeds of disunity, panic, suspicion as well as hatred among and between stakeholders”. Gono said the agenda was to portray him and the central bank as obstacles to the success of the land reform programme. Gono alleged the attack on the central bank had been timed to coincide with “two most crucial” moments. He identified these as the advent of the rains and a decisive season in terms of the land reform programme, as well as Zanu PF™s national conference due next month, at which the issue of the land is expected to take centre stage.

Gono said the central bank was being blamed unfairly for the fertiliser fiasco when the Secretary for Agriculture, Simon Pazvakavambwa, and his team of experts flew to Durban, South Africa, to inspect and certify the fertiliser before it was cleared and subsequently imported into the country. The team included Dr Sam Muchena from the African Centre for Fertiliser Development at Hatcliffe Estate, Harare, and John Madzinga from the GMB. Muchena and Madzinga could not be reached yesterday. The fertiliser at the centre of the dust-up was from Sasol and not Intshona, as earlier reported. On charges that the central bank had “gone it alone” in sealing the fertiliser deal, Gono said the Ministries of Agriculture, Industry and International Trade, as well as Finance, had been involved in the deal, which was concluded in Harare on 28 April this year with Nedbank and the Rand Merchant Bank for the provision of fertiliser. But the controversy gets muddier because while Muvuti condemned the fertiliser, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture™s crop nutrition section, Chemistry and Soil Research Institute (CSRI) L T Mupondi, and Pazvakavambwa, approved its use.

On 26 July, Pazvakavambwa directed the GMB to distribute the fertiliser, saying it could be “provisionally” registered as 7:14:7 Compound D for one year. “I note that the results obtained are within the acceptable range of Nitrate (N), Phosphorus (P205) and Potassium (K20). Based on these results, I now direct that the product be released to GMB for distribution to farmers.” The CSRI™s head said the Sasol fertiliser could be provisionally registered for a year only adding: “It is because the sulphur content of this fertiliser is below the Zimbabwe 1.05% is below that of registered compound type fertiliser which has a sulphur content of 6.5%.” But fears remain that Zimbabwe would be headed for another poor agricultural season because of the poor quality of the fertiliser from South Africa. At a press conference held yesterday morning to exonerate Gono from the fertiliser mess, Made confirmed that some of the fake fertiliser had been distributed but said affected farmers should return it. “If there are farmers who are not happy with the fertiliser, they should hold on and we will test it. Compensation will be made to the affected farmers,” Made said. He said a structure had been set up to ensure that any fertiliser was tested before it was supplied, to make sure it was the correct mix. Some farmers have already returned the fake fertiliser to the GMB depot in Chitungwiza. This was confirmed by a senior official at the depot on Friday.

Source: WWW.ZwNews.Com
From The Standard, 12 November