US$7 million Presidential Goat Scheme fraud dealt massive blow to rural poor — Official tells court

A government ministry director has told the High Court that the US$7 million fraud committed by businessmen Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe derailed a flagship rural livelihoods programme and inflicted deep losses on vulnerable households that were supposed to benefit from the Presidential Goat Scheme.

The damning assessment was contained in a victim impact statement submitted by Alban Mhindurwa, a director in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.

Mpofu and Chimombe were convicted earlier this month of fraud after securing a US$27 million tender using a non-existent company, Blackdeck (Pvt) Ltd.

Their presentencing inquiry continues next Wednesday before mitigation and aggravation are heard.

Mhindurwa said the scheme, valued at US$87.7 million and designed to supply 632,001 goats over five years, had been created as a “catalyst for rapid rural livelihoods improvement” through better food security, nutrition, income and climate-resilient livestock production. He said the fraud stalled a programme meant to lift poor rural households towards the national development targets of Vision 2030 and NDS1.

He told the court that rural families were deprived of long-term income they would have generated from breeding goats.

“A doe can produce at least three kids in two years,” he said, noting that

beneficiaries lost not only the initial livestock but “three years of off-springs at a 72% weaning percentage yearly.”

He added that the suspension of the scheme caused “reduced drought resilience and high poverty risk” among disadvantaged households.

Mhindurwa warned that the collapse of the programme had eroded trust in government rural initiatives.

He said household and national nutrition targets were “completely derailed,” and the vulnerable groups “had developed high hopes of owning an economic asset in their lives,” only to watch the programme stall after the fraud came to light.

The ministry, he said, suffered significant financial and reputational harm.

“The Government of Zimbabwe was prejudiced of approximately US$7,380,751.84 that must be recovered in one way or another,” he stated.

He added that the scheme became a “Presidential flagship programme marred by corruption,” damaging public confidence and straining the ministry’s budget after paying for a non-performing project.

Mhindurwa said the fallout also undermined the country’s image internationally, particularly because the court proceedings were broadcast live. He said the delays caused by the fraud have “slowed down the attainment of Vision 2030 of ‘A Prosperous and Empowered Upper Middle Income Society’.”

He concluded: “This is the Victim Impact Assessment Report for the Presidential Goat Scheme regarding the losses suffered by beneficiaries and other stakeholders due to the conduct of the accused persons.”

Mpofu and Chimombe will return to court next Wednesday as the presentencing inquiry continues ahead of their sentencing. *_-NewZimbabwe_*