Net Closes on Fuel Facility Abusers

By John Mokwetsi

THE net is closing in on senior Zanu PF and government officials who abused the subsidised fuel facility meant for the agricultural sector.

Manicaland war veteran, Enock Saidani, yesterday became the first A2 farmer to face charges of selling subsidised fuel on the black market.

Saidani allegedly sold 17 600 litres of diesel on the illegal parallel market between June 2005 and 10 February this year.Saidani owns Mazonwe Farm 4 in Mutare and was arrested last week after the government launched a probe to establish how fuel meant for farming activities had been used.

The Standard last week exposed a list of several high-ranking Zanu PF and government officials under investigation for abusing the fuel facility.

The government, anxious to ensure the success of its "agrarian revolution", provided subsidised petrol at $11 000 and diesel at $13 500 a litre to A2 farmers, most of them Zanu PF stalwarts. However the facility was widely abused as the fuel was immediately sold on the black market.

The abuse is partly responsible for Zimbabwe's food crisis.Saidani appeared before a Mutare Magistrate, Fabian Feshete, facing charges of abusing 17 600 litres of diesel valued at $193.6 million at the subsidised price.The State alleges that from 1 June 2005 to 10 February 2006, Saidani acquired diesel from NOCZIM Mutare ostensibly for ploughing his fields.

Court documents, however, show that he sold the diesel allocated to him on the black market.Saidani applied for bail but the magistrate reserved the ruling to tomorrow.

The State argued, through acting area public prosecutor Levison Chikafu, that Saidani was not a suitable candidate for bail and was most likely to abscond. "There is a possibility for a conviction in this matter given the evidence against the accused.

Prospects of a lengthy custodial sentence will induce the accused to abscond," said Chikafu during his submissions against granting of bail.Defence lawyers, said the accused was a respectable citizen since he is a war veteran who fought for the liberation of the country.

The prosecution is likely to send shivers among other Zanu PF and government heavyweights, who were beneficiaries of the fuel facility, but whose questionable agricultural production is the subject of an on-going probe.

Investigations have already been instituted countrywide, starting in Manicaland, where senior government officials and well-connected individuals allegedly abused the fuel facility by re-selling the scarce commodity.Zimbabwe has been reeling from acute fuel shortages which have brought the former vibrant economy to its knees.