Maravi

Govt begins auditing FSP in Monze

Govt begins auditing FSP in Monze
Written by George Zulu in Monze
Monday, February 16, 2009 5:10:47 AM

THE Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in Monze has begun the process of auditing the government-sponsored Fertiliser Support Programme (FSP).

Sources in the ministry revealed on Friday that an auditor had been sent in response to the revelations of abuse of the FSP involving some named government officials in the district.

The sources alleged that some officials in the ministry were not happy with reports indicating that over 5,000 bags of the fertiliser had gone missing and that one member of staff collected over 60 bags of fertilizer at the expense of the small-scale farmers.

The sources said there was an urgent need to scrutinise and authenticate cooperatives if the FSP exercise was to bear positive results in food security.

They further said some officers in the department of agriculture had taken advantage of the porous system to allocate themselves huge amounts of the FSP fertiliser.

And police in Monze have withheld over 32 bags of fertiliser found at the Farmers Training Institute (FTI) believed to have been obtained from the FSP exercise belonging to a named cooperatives officer.

Police sources said that they were waiting for further instructions from the district agricultural coordinator (DACO), Justine Ngosa, on the matter.

Monze District received 54,720 bags of fertiliser under FSP to benefit 6,840 households but over 5,000 bags were allegedly misdirected before the government sent an additional consignment of over 2,000 bags of fertiliser.

And marketing officer Zandonda Tembo refused to comment saying the DACO and the District Commissioner were better placed to give a full details on the matter.

Labels: FSP, MONZE

posted by MrK @ 5:10 AM