STOP E-VOUCHER SCAM

ANOTHER scam laid bare again! This time, in Eastern Province where some unscrupulous cooperative leaders have taken advantage of the e-voucher system to reap where they did not sow. It’s shocking and deeply disturbing that the system which was only piloted in the region last year is already being abused by some people to enrich themselves dubiously. Understandably, the cooperative leaders got cards from their unsuspecting members and used them to collect farming inputs from the agro dealers for themselves. According to Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) which unearthed the scam, the cooperative leaders took peculiar advantage of their positions to collect cards from their members. Once equipped with the cards, the crooked leaders then collected the farming inputs from agro dealers purporting they were collecting the cargo on behalf of their unsuspecting members. As expected, the inputs collected did not match with money Government had deposited in the E-voucher cards of the affected farmers. It is rather disappointing that a new system which was meant to facilitate quick distribution of farming inputs and boost agriculture has already been turned into a milking cow by a few greedy people. CSPR says the irregularities resulting from the dubious activities of the cooperative leaders were detected in Chipata, Katete and Petauke among other areas. There is no doubt that these illegal activities were widespread in the one farming season the system was piloted. Just how much was lost or syphoned from government is everybody’s guess – colossal sums obviously looking at the widespread nature of these illegal activities. We applaud CSPR for their alertness and exposing the scandal because by doing so they have not only helped protect government from losing colossal sums of money to a few selfish individuals, but even the poor cooperative members. In our view, the cooperative leaders are heartless and have no genuine interest in the welfare of their members as far as food security is concerned. Instead of helping their members, the leaders chose to take advantage of their low literacy levels to deceiving them into surrendering the e-voucher cards to them. They are callous indeed. This is why we once again commend the CSPR for not only taking interest in the matter but going a step further by reporting the issue to the Anti-Corruption Commission for action. This is how it should be. We feel it is very much possible that similar scams may have happened in other provinces and based on this, we strongly request to government to at all costs seal all possible loopholes in the e-voucher system. Already the system is dogged with other problems and in many places has not been activated, we just hope crooks will not take advantage of this setback to abuse the system for personal gain. As usual the guillotine should fall on the necks of those found wanting to send a strong message to other criminals who may be plotting to use the e-vouchers to steal from the State.