The Sunday Mail
Bulawayo Bureau
THE Agricultural and Rural Development Authority board must be dissolved for sabotaging the farming sector, Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko has said.
VP Mphoko said this after touring an idle multi-million-dollar tomato-canning plant at Arda Balu Estate in Umguza yesterday. The project is the brainchild of late VP Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo — but it never took off.
VP Mphoko said the Arda board was undermining the legacy of revolutionaries like Dr Nkomo and President Mugabe. It was also reported yesterday that all Arda farms and irrigation schemes in Matabeleland were not functioning.
“Why do we have a board that gets paid for absolutely nothing when there is no production at this place?
“These people clearly should not be here. They need to also explain clearly why after such a long time equipment is lying idle and yet they are supposed to be the leaders.
“It is unfair for someone who had the opportunity to run an Arda property to leave it in this state; it is clear sabotage to the development of the people. What kind of board runs this place?”
It is understood Dr Nkomo sourced equipment for the tomato and fruit juice canning project soon after Independence.
A war veteran, Cde George Mlala, said: “VP Nkomo started this project just after 1980 and his vision was to can tomatoes and other juices so that these could be sold to both local and outside markets.
“Unfortunately, it never took off and very few people have tried to get it to function over the years, to no avail. His intention was to have local farmers grow the tomatoes on the estate and then process them there as there is a large dam that was going to supply water.”
