200 Petauke farmers demand refunds for undelivered inputs
By Staff Reporter
More than 200 farmers in Mwanika area of Petauke district have asked for a refund of their K400 deposit paid on inputs since nothing positive has happened after their National Registration Cards and E-Voucher cards were collected for verification in December last year.
Nyamawende Cooperative Society chairperson Charles Zulu said the concerned farmers who belonged to 10 Cooperative groups were now stranded not only in accessing the inputs but also in other services that demanded the use of their NRCs that have been withheld for close to two months.
“The documents were taken away from them by camp officer Morgan Michelo and agriculture committee coordinator Zebron Nyangu who have not been helpful whenever the farmers try to claim their documents. The 10 affected cooperatives are Nyamawende, Kasenga, Jimulani, Chataza, Nyamatuku, Kozungwe, Malulu, Chankhalamu, Chimumba and Tangazani,” Zulu said.
Meanwhile Petauke district agriculture coordinator Mwaba Lubasi said no person was allowed to collect NRCs and E-Voucher cards from the farmers.
He however promised to carry out investigations to establish the circumstances that caused the officers to collect the documents from the farmers.
Recently, former Vubwi member of parliament Alexander Miti said government should urgently audit beneficiaries of the Farmer Input Support Programme in the area following the unearthing of a scam where some agricultural officers used unsuspecting farmers to benefit from the scheme.
