The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) failed to appear before the Justice Mayor Wadyajena led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands and Agriculture on issues relating to the US$27 million allocated to them by the Government.
Addressing journalists after anxiously waiting for GMAZ, Wadyajena said the association through their lawyers Wintertons said they cannot appear before the committee.
“They wrote to parliament through Wintertons saying they can’t appear before the committee, they think this committee is being unfair to them and they prefer to go before the public accounts committee, so they have engaged their lawyers to fight us.
“They have to appear, the committee resolved that we have to summon them, so we are issuing summon for them to appear,” said Wadyejena
He said they had summoned the millers to explain how funds availed to them by Government through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was used.
“We need information from them, they got US$27 million from the Government through the RBZ we want to know how they used the money they got the money between 2017 and 2019 they should have bought wheat or they bought wheat that is what we want to find out, we just want them to explain to the committee what they used the money for.
“There are two issues there is the issue of US$27 million allocated by RBZ and the issue of rehabilitation of silos. GMB is refuting that GMAZ rehabilitated the silos but GMAZ is saying they rehabilitated the silos that is what we want to know,” he said
Wadyajena said through their lawyers, the Millers had written four letters refusing to appear before the committee chaired by him.
“The lawyers wrote four letters saying they cannot appear before the committee they do not want me to chair the committee I do not know why. The RBZ wrote us confirming that they had allocated the US$27 million to GMAZ,” added Wadyajena.
Efforts to get a comment from GMAZ spokesperson Garikai Chaunza were in vain as his mobile phone went unanswered.
