780 now face prosecution over cashew ‘irregularities’

Dar es Salaam. The government said yesterday it will prosecute at least 780 people for various irregularities in connection with cashew nuts worth Sh4.2 billion.

Agriculture minister Japhet Hasunga told The Citizen in an exclusive interview that the suspects would be arraigned on charges of trading in the crop without being registered or having valid business licences. This denied the government an unspecified sum in revenue, he added.

Asked whether the government would nationalise the cashew nuts in question, Mr Hasunga said it was up to the courts to decide on the matter.

Calculated at the price of Sh3,300 per kilogramme set by the government, Sh4.2 billion worth of cashew nuts weigh in at 1,273 tonnes.

Data compiled in Mtwara Region showed that Sh299.43 billion had been paid to 237,911 small-scale cashew nut growers for 91,076 tonnes supplied as of March 25. This is equivalent to 99 per cent of all cashew growers in the region.

Reports also showed that nearly half of medium and large-scale farmers who had to undergo verification were yet to be paid.

“At least Sh386.78 billion has been paid to 250,128 small and large-scale farmers who had supplied 117,556 tonnes as of March 25,” according to the reports.

However, Mr Hasunga told The Citizen that it was possible that up to half of medium and large-scale farmers were yet to be paid, but declined to provide details.

“I have just arrived in Mtwara, and officials are compiling figures from all four major cashew growing regions of Mtwara, Lindi, Ruvuma and Coast,” he said.

A survey in Mtwara, Lindi and Ruvuma regions established that most small-scale farmers had been paid.

“However, the majority of medium and large-scale farmers have yet to be paid despite being verified. Today (yesterday) I referred some of them to the district commissioner after the buying season ended on March 31. These are not fraudsters, but genuine farmers,” said Mr Elisha Milanzi, chairman of Chipuputa Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society (Amcos).

Mr Idd Nangameta from Kitama Village in Tandahimba District said between 60 and 70 medium and large-scale farmers had yet to be paid despite being verified.

He accused some officials conducting the verification of corruption, saying he was asked to fork out Sh150 for every kilogramme of the 1,800 kilogrammes he sold, but for which he had not yet been paid.

“Someone called me five days ago asking me to part with the money for my payment of Sh5.9 million to be approved,” he said.

Mr Hasunga confirmed that there were some unscrupulous officials who had been busy lining their pockets during the buying season, adding that disciplinary and legal measures were being taken against the culprits who had been identified so far.

A member of Litunguru Amcos in Tunduru District, Ruvuma Region, Mr Said Kachepa, said at least 15 medium and large-scale farmers were yet to be paid.

“These are farmers who have been harvesting between four and six tonnes annually...they are not con men,” he said.