Who is really benefitting from the USAID US$19.8 million food insecurity project in Zimbabwe?

According to the Guardian, Chemonics agreed to pay US$482 243 to back job applicants who had been denied jobs by the company.

The report said of the 124 African Americans who had applied for jobs with the company, none was hired.

The Insider wrote to the United States embassy on 14 May asking why the US$19.8 million contract had been awarded to Chemonics in view of its poor performance and how much Chemonics would be paid in fees but it has not received a response up to now.

If the Haiti report is correct, only a paltry US$200 000 could be coming to Zimbabwe from the U$19.8 million with the rest going back to the United States, with Chemonics of course pocketing the bulk of the funds despite its poor performance.

One of the reasons why Chemonics allegedly continues to get USAID contracts  is that one of its owners had connections to  the aid agency.

One report quotes the Centre for Public Integrity as saying that Chemonics gets 90 percent of its income from the US taxpayer through USAID.

It says Chemonics controlling owner, Scott Spangler, served as a senior USAID director under President Bush senior.

Spangler died last year aged 80. His obituary reads: “In 1990, Scott accepted a position in the administration of President George H.W. Bush, serving as associate administrator and later acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development. Following his service in government, Scott served as chairman of Chemonics International, a Washington-based consulting firm that provides technical assistance to developing countries.”

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