Village heads from ward 37 in Gutu Central have refused to receive 200 bags of Compound D fertiliser brought for distribution under the Presidential Inputs Scheme by the local councillor.
The distribution was supposed to take place at Tachi Business Centre near Mukaro on Thursday and the truck was forced to return with its load.
Councillor Gabriel Mapepa confirmed the incident, but accused drunk youths of disrupting the distribution process.
Sources, however, told The Mirror that it was the village heads who came together and decided to refuse the fertiliser allegedly because Mapepa had allocated more bags to his ward which is called Chipangane B.
The village heads refused to accept the fertiliser after the councillor briefed them about the situation.
They came from the meeting and told the villagers to reject the fertiliser until the councillor brought the missing bags that had been allocated to Chipangane B.
Ward 37 is divided into two distribution centres, one at Tachi, which is Chipangane A and another near Gutu Mission which is Chipangane B.
“We stopped the distribution yesterday because some rowdy youths disrupted the meeting. It was not the village heads who rejected the inputs” Mapepa said.
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Sources said Mapepa had distributed 290 bags to his ward and 200 to Tachi, with four villagers supposed to share a bag.
The sources said the councillor was desperately trying to woo voters in the upper part of the ward in areas around Gutu Mission, which is occupied by the working class who largely support the opposition.
Some people expressed disdain at the manner in which presidential inputs were being distributed in the ward and said it was not the first time the distribution of inputs ended in chaos.
They alleged that last year, almost 20 bags of fertilizer from the Presidential Inputs Scheme disappeared and the councillor failed to account for them.
“We are disappointed by the way presidential inputs are being distributed in our ward. The councillor uses them to fulfil his ambitions. Last time, 20 bags disappeared and this time the councillor wants to manipulate us again,” said a disgruntled villager.
— The Mirror
