US spies busted, deported

Team met journalists, NGOs, civic society, opposition

FOUR United States nationals contracted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) reportedly sneaked into the country last month without notifying the authorities as per protocol and proceeded to hold unsanctioned and covert meetings, which were to inform Washington’s adversarial foreign policy towards Zimbabwe.

The quartet — Brenda Lee Pearson, Norma Kriger, Sarah Logan and Loretta Bass — work for a US government affiliate, Navanti Group, and their mission was ostensibly to carry out a “democracy and governance assessment” to help USAID design its local programmes.

However, the team was busted and deported on February 17 after it was established their real agenda was more focused on seeking “a more effective method to effect regime change in the country”, informed sources told The Sunday Mail yesterday.

Curiously, the quartet entered the country without prior communication with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and went on to conduct assessment activities in the country, thereby violating the Geneva Convention.

After discovering that their team was being shadowed, the US Embassy, on behalf of Navanti Group, reportedly notified the Government on February 5, requesting meetings between Pearson and Kriger and Government ministers, institutions and the Chapter 12 commissions.

The commissions include the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC); the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC); the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC); the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC); and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC).

But the arrival of Logan and Bass on February 5 for the same mission was kept under wraps.

Clandestine meetings

Since arriving separately in early February, the team nicodemously held meetings

THE Government is set to redirect funds allocated to the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme towards drought relief efforts, while a supplementary budget to deal with the fallout from the El Niño weather phenomenon is being considered, The Sunday Mail has learnt.

The authorities are also exploring the possibility of an intensive winter maize and sorghum production programme to compensate for the low harvest anticipated in the 2023-2024 summer cropping season.

Details of the proposed winter maize and sorghum programme will be unveiled after Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube (pictured) said resources that were not utilised in the Pfumvudza programme due to widespread crop failure could now be used for drought response measures, as well as grain imports.

Budget allocations will principally be towards facilitating delivery of grain to about 2,7 million people considered food-insecure.

Initially, $44 billion had been set aside for the food relief programme, with beneficiaries expected to receive free food handouts during the peak hunger period.

Currently, about 71 500 tonnes of cereal have been earmarked for distribution.

“We might not necessarily have a supplementary budget, but we need to allocate more funding towards the drought relief programme,” said Prof Ncube.

“We had allocated a budget for the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme and now we are aware this programme will not be as successful as in previous years.

“So, some of the resources from that allocation will be diverted towards drought relief.

“At the moment, I cannot say if there will be a supplementary budget or not. However, other measures put in place include the importation of grain to augment the grain that we already have. So, Government is likely to import more, naturally.” The Government, Prof Ncube said, will ensure that “no one is going to die of hunger”.

“We have plans as Government, we have been through this before; 2019 was not an easy year, there was Cyclone Idai and then the drought. We . . . should be able to manage again.”

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka said a roadmap for winter maize production is expected to be announced on Tuesday after the Cabinet sitting.

“An official statement will be issued after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, highlighting the roadmap to be taken,” said Dr Masuka.