Kasukuwere Did Not Pay For Farm Equipment Received Under RBZ Farm Mechanisation Programme
A former chief executive of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s former subsidiary, Fiscorp, which handled the Farm Mechanisation Programme between 2007 and 2008, has denied legislator, Mr Kudakwashe Bhasikiti and self-exiled former Cabinet minister Mr Saviour Kasukuwere, repaid the loans through which they received equipment under the scheme.
Speaking to The Herald, former Fiscorp chief executive Mr Mathews Kunaka said no beneficiary was invoiced to repay the equipment and challenged Kasukuwere and Bhasikiti to provide details showing their repayments.
He said Fiscorp never issued invoices and beneficiaries never knew the amount they owed, but only signed for delivery of the equipment.
Kunaka’s response followed claims by Bhasikiti and Kasukuwere, who on Twitter said they repaid their loans.
Commenting on his Twitter handle last week, Bhasikiti said; “Those who are saying farm mechanisation was for free are telling blatant lies. I paid $10 billion for mine, which was worked as the United States dollar equivalent then.”
On his Twitter handle, Kasukuwere said: “I think the RBZ should invoice and collect the money. These are public funds and no one should put up useless defence for looting. I paid for the two tractors that I got and I am happy to receive an invoice from the RBZ if I owe them anything.”
In an interview with the publication yesterday, Kunaka said he was not aware of any payment that could have been made for the farm mechanisation, as no valuation had been done at the time of distribution.
“I am keen to establish how such payments were made because I am not aware of any. If they did, they must produce invoice against which payment was made, we will also be keen to see the receipts. We would want to know how were the payments made. Was it through a bank transfer, if so, we would want to know the bank and account number into which payment went and date of payment,” said Kunaka.