Stefanus Nashama
Independent presidential candidate, Ally Angula has accused the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform of squandering taxpayer money on unused infrastructure in green schemes.
Angula, who is on a campaign trail in the Kavango East region, accused the ministry of constructing a forestry office where no one is stationed or working.
“The Ministry of Agriculture is a total failure. We cannot even grade them because they are wasting money on renovations when no people are utilising this infrastructure,” she said.
Since its construction six years ago, the office has undergone several renovations.
Angula demanded accountability for the ministry’s misappropriation of taxpayer funds.
She also visited the Mashare Agricultural Development Institute and the Ndonga Linena Green Scheme project.
She discovered that there were no ongoing activities and that the office building was vacant.
“This is criminal, evil, wicked and a waste of taxpayers’ money on projects that are shut down. We need to lay the blame at the right door and that is the Ministry of Agriculture,” she stated.
Angula claims that if she wins the election, her government won’t be careless.
She urged the government to support small-scale farmers in order to ensure successful farming.
Angula was part of the government administration under the Ministry of Finance during the establishment of green scheme projects.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform’s spokesperson, Jona Musheko, said that since the ministry reclaimed the green scheme projects in 2022, production across many projects has been steady.
He noted that this is contingent on the availability of funds.
“We started with five under-production green schemes, depending on the funds available. We should be able to understand that the ministry never receives funds. We have also spent a lot much money on repairing and fixing project equipment,” Musheko emphasised.
He said the ministry received only 1.9 billion, which is not enough.
“We had not sought funds on our own to ensure the development of the green schemes,” he mentioned.
Deputy minister Anna Shiwede’s April budget statement revealed that the ministry needs a total of N$400 million in the 2024–2025 fiscal year to boost production at the green scheme projects.
This amount includes the funding necessary for the further development of the Etunda Irrigation Project and the complete overhaul of green schemes to ensure the uninterrupted operation of these projects for the next fifteen to twenty years.
During the 2023/2024 financial year, the ministry received an amount of N$120 million.
The government used the funding for the repair and maintenance of ageing irrigation infrastructure, the procurement of new tractors and implements, and the procurement of production inputs.
