Sun, 18 Feb 2018 09:34:32 +0000
…e-voucher is eliminating corruption not abetting
By CHIKUMBI KATEBE
THE introduction of e-voucher in the management of agriculture subsidies has contributed to the elimination of corruption and abuse of Government resources, says former Matero Member of Parliament Miles Sampa.
Mr Sampa said the e-voucher was also helping cut off handling of cash in the procurement of farming inputs.
Mr Sampa said assertions by the Forum for Democracy and Development president Edith Nawakwi that the e-voucher scheme was marred by massive corruption is a misrepresentation of facts as it has cut out the use of middlemen and inclusion of ghost beneficiaries.
Mr Sampa accused the former agriculture minister of mistaking the current input scheme to the archaic system she left when she was in government in the 1990s.
“FDD president Edith Nawakwi is not being sincere when she says the e-voucher scheme is a corruption project by taking K400 from peasant farmers
“What I understand is actually the opposite that the e-voucher aims to eliminate corruption and abuse of government resources,” Mr Sampa, a former Deputy Minister of Commerce said.
He explained that the K400 contribution from each beneficiary was a small percentage towards what Government paid for the bigger portion of the acreage.
The former MP said it was the same notion used at banks when obtaining a loan that the customer must provide some contribution as a way of ensuring the borrower has a vested interest in the project.
He said the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) which provided subsidies in form of seed and fertiliser gobbled huge public funds as it ended up in the wrong hands including ghost farmers who conspired with civil servants.
Mr Sampa said there were a few hiccups in the e-voucher system which could be described as teething problems, which should all be sorted out before the beginning of the next agriculture season.
“What the e-voucher scheme is going through is typical teething problems of any new venture,
“I trust next year will be better but as a nation, we should not think of abandoning and going back to the colonial system that was manual based as left by my sister when she was agriculture Minister,” Mr Sampa said.
