Tempers flared between Zanu FP MPs in Parliament yesterday during an appearance by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono who refused to disclose beneficiaries of the controversial farm mechanisation programme.
Gono was appearing before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Lands and Rural Resettlement chaired by Chikomba MP Moses Jiri.
Goromonzi North Paddy Zhanda (Zanu PF) clashed with his Mhondoro Ngezi counterpart Bright Matonga as well as Hurungwe East MP Sarah Mahoka.
Zhanda stormed out of the meeting after his party colleagues blocked him from pinning down Gono to disclose the beneficiaries who have failed to pay for the equipment.
The RBZ boss had been invited by the committee to give the list of beneficiaries and outline the criteria used by the central bank to allocate the farm equipment.
He was also asked to explain how the beneficiaries were going to pay for the equipment six years ago.
But Gono chose to explain how the items, valued at $200 million, which included tractors, combine harvesters, mechanised ploughs, harrows, planters, boom sprayers, hay bailers and animal-drawn equipment, was allocated between 2006 and 2007.
He avoided naming the beneficiaries, believed to be mostly senior Zanu PF officials and top civil servants. This prompted Jiri to raise a point of order demanding that the RBZ chief must release the names as he was appearing before the committee under oath.
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Gono refused to budge insisting that he was prohibited from disclosing clients information by the RBZ Act and the Banking Act.
He said according to the two Acts, if he disclosed the information he could be charged and imprisoned for two years or ordered to pay a fine.
The two pieces of legislation prohibit me from disclosing names of people who would have transacted with the bank and that particular information has been handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development so that they follow up on the beneficiaries, Gono said.
It is the first time in my career as a banker that I am asked to disclose affairs of a banking nature and I will have to go back to government to ask whether it will be permissible to divulge that information.
At that point Zhanda, who has clashed with Gono on several issues, interjected saying the two Acts cited did not supersede Parliament. Governor, you are under oath and you are required by the Parliamentary Privileges and Immunities Act to disclose and if you do not disclose the information it will be a breach, he said.
Parliament can sentence someone to
Matonga and Mahoka intervened arguing Zhanda was being unfair to Gono.
The two MPs said the committee should instead demand the names from the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. This did not go down well with Zhanda, who then walked out of the meeting accusing Jiri of failing to control the two MPs who were supporting Gono. If you are chairing a meeting, chair it properly and do not allow people to be out of order. Let us be focused and direct, said Zhanda as he left the committee room. A visibly angry Matonga replied: We cannot come here to settle certain scores. If there is someone who has an agenda, we cannot be used to settle scores on their behalf and the committee failed to explain to Gono about Parliamentary procedures and the right thing is to demand that information from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Jiri ruled that Gono should provide the information to Parliament at a later date. However, Gono said he would require at most six months compiling the required information because RBZ staff had depleted from 2 000 to 500.
