Zimbabwe authorities on Wednesday denied earlier press reports that Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono had issued a threat to seize maize from individuals.
The reports had said Gono had suggested the launch of ”Operation Bring Back Maize” to force people to hand over their maize stocks to the state-controlled Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
”The maize [collected] will be able to fill our silos,” Gono was quoted as telling a parliamentary committee.
But Walter Mzembi, a ruling-party lawmaker and chairperson of a parliamentary committee on land, told state radio that Gono’s comments had not been correctly reported.
”In this instance, I can say with 100% certainty that the statements that were attributed to the Reserve Bank Governor, honourable Gono, are not correct at all,” Mzembi said.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change warned on Wednesday that any plans to seize maize from individuals would only lead to profiteering by corrupt officials.
Maize, a national staple, is in short supply. The United Nations’s World Food Programme estimates a quarter of Zimbabwe’s 12-million people will need food aid by next March. — Sapa-DPA