“I want to put the issue of Farmers World into perspective. As government or as Parliament, we were not able to know who the owners of Farmers World are. So, what has happened, Mr. Speaker, is that there is a group of people that call themselves Farmer’s World. They have borrowed money from China Bank, US$11 million. They have not been able to give that money back to the bank and our government has paid that loan on behalf of Farmers World to the tune of US$11 556 000.
“What it means is that this is tax payers money which has been used to liquidate a debt of private citizens, private people, to the tune of US$11 million.”
Maridadi said $3 million went missing from the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Local Government made payments of $11 million without any supporting documents.
The legislator said he could go on and on but the most important thing was to recommend that law enforcement officers be brought into the Public Accounts Committee to give it teeth.
Full contribution:
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I had prepared a very elaborate presentation in anticipation of a very heated debate. However, what I have discovered is that the report is very good. The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts has done justice to her presentation and the recommendations are self-explanatory. I shall not belabour this House by getting into detail.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Public Accounts Committee is one of the key Committees of this House. Allow me Mr. Speaker to quote very briefly from the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible talks about dishonesty. If you read Genesis 27, Verses 1 to 29; “What if my father touches me, he will see that I am trying to trick him and then he will curse me instead of blessing me” – [AN HON. MEMBER: I receive.] – How we react to a moral dilemma often exposes our real motives. I will leave that Mr. Speaker and I will explain why I have quoted that verse – [AN HON. MEMBER: Go deeper papa.] – When you speak of the Holy Bible and people make fun of it, it is very unfortunate. Mr. Speaker Sir, I will leave this aside and go on to my presentation.
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