Former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Dr Gideon Gono has exonerated Movement for Democratic Change – Alliance (MDC-A) leader, Nelson Chamisa from beneficiaries of the controversial Farm Mechanisation Programme, rolled out by the central bank to largely Zanu PF aligned persons between 2007 and 2008.
Gono’s remarks follows claims by Zanu PF aligned people that among the beneficiaries of the farm mechanization scheme were opposition politicians including Chamisa.
Responding to United Kingdom based lawyer Dr Alex Magaisa’s expose which listed some of the beneficiaries of the farm mechanization scheme, Information Secretary, Nick Mangwana accused the Kent University lecturer of omitting some names including those in the opposition.
Speaking on Zimbabwe Television Network (ZTN) today, Gono confirmed that some members of the opposition benefited from the programme but exonerated Chamisa.
“Very senior members from MDC were beneficiaries of the programme in question. It is unfortunate that Alex’s list omits some names of people from the party that he was advising at the time.
“I’m not here to spell out all the names of beneficiaries neither am I aware of Chamisa benefiting from the program, but I can surely confirm that Welshman Ncube benefited,” said Gono.
He further indicated that over 100 000 people benefited from the programme, though Magaisa insisted that some of them were not in need of assistance as they had capacity to acquire equipment for their farms.
“Looking at some of the names on that list, you can see that these are ministers and already rich individuals with capacity to buy farm machinery,” said Magaisa.
