Govt uncovers Kaoma cooperatives scam

Sat, 01 Jul 2017 12:13:22 +0000

ACTING Kaoma district commissioner Sachibuye Mwanang’ombe has disclosed that Government has unearthed a scam where some cooperatives are being managed by family members for purposes of benefitting from the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).

Mr Mwanang’ombe warned that Government would soon carry out inspections and arbitrations so that culprits could be brought to book.

He was speaking during the commemoration of the International Cooperatives Day in Kaoma yesterday.

Mr Mwanag’ombe explained that cooperatives were formed to meet common socio-economic and cultural needs and aspirations of their members through democratically controlled enterprises.

He noted that cooperatives ought to be entities that should be able to carry out their various activities outside FISP and called for the support of the cooperative movement so as to secure a better livelihood for future generations.

He said the overall objective of cooperatives should be to encourage co-operators to be concerned with one another and to be mindful of other people who might be stigmatized based on their health, tribe, gender, physical or economic status.

Mr Mwanang’ombe said that there was need for self-examination among co-operators so as to assess whether each of their members’ behaviour portrayed a picture of caring and inclusion as this year’s theme stated.

He implored Government departments, non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations and other stakeholders to help cooperatives build their capacity so that they could assist in driving the country’s development agenda.

And representing the farmers in Kaoma, Njamba Ndangula, who is chairperson of the Mulamatila Agriculture Camp said that a good number of cooperatives in the district have received training despite the financial difficulties which the district was experiencing.

Mr Ndangula however bemoaned the high cost of farming inputs in the country which had resulted in only a few farmers accessing inputs.

He called for timely delivery of farming inputs. – ZANIS