By Lloyd Takawira
Speaking to Journalist’s in Harare , European Union Ambassador to Harare Timo Olkkonen has said corruption is the leading cause of the food crisis currently gripping the country.
The food crisis in Zimbabwe according to the World Food Program (FAO) is so dire that over 7.7 million people are in need of food aid.
Ambassador Timo Olkkonen said mismanagement of the agricultural sector was partly to blame for the hunger in the country.
“Obviously there is this link to the climate change phenomena and the drought that has been induced in southern Africa, but it has been shown also very clearly in the report by the UN rapporteur on the right to food that the situation that makes food insecurity such a grave issue in Zimbabwe is the mismanagement of the agricultural sector in recent years,” he said.
European Union Ambassador Olkkonen’s remarks come barely on the heels of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts Committee
The committee chaired by MDC Vice president Hon Tendai Biti unearthed massive corruption involving the government’s command agriculture program .
According to the committee report , command agriculture program received more than 3 Billion dollars in 2 years but has very little to nothing to show for it.
