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Midlands Bureau
Mberengwa East Member of Parliament Cde Makhosini Hlongwane (Zanu-PF) who was recently fingered by other parliamentarians as having corruptly benefited from the Youth Fund, said the $30,000 loan he got was not from the youth fund.
Cde Hlongwane therefore dismissed allegations that he benefited from the youth fund as unfounded.
He said there were some people who were pushing a sinister political agenda meant to tarnish his person.
Said Cde Hlongwane: “Some media organisations, specifically The Herald and Newsday ran stories alleging that I received $33,000 from Stanbic from the Youth Fund.
“This is far from being true. The facts are that in 2012, I did apply for a business loan from Stanbic. I applied for $30,000 and attached my project proposal together with my application. I bank with Stanbic. The bank scrutinised my application and visited the project site in Zvishavane town.
“They approved the application and I was given the funds. I gave my side of the story to the two publications but surprisingly, they ignored my input and ran their stories without my comment.”
He said the Zvishavane project was operational.
Cde Hlongwane said what was not true was that he applied for $33,000 from the Youth Fund.
“The threshold for the Youth Fund loans is $2,000 and the maximum one can get is $5,000. The maximum for the Youth Fund was therefore too low to fund my project.
“Simple perusal of the application documents deposited with Stanbic will reveal that there is no intention, not even an intimation of the Youth Fund,” he said.
Cde Hlongwane said the parliamentary committee on Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment was only doing its mandated duty of accounting to the people but there were some individuals outside the committee bent on scoring political points on a business issue.
Said the legislator:
“In 2012, I was 37 years old when I applied for the loan and the age limit for one to be considered a youth is 35. It did not approve my own loan application. It was approved by the bank.
“The suggestion that I would have tried to change my age and that there is any link between my loan application and my age is a falsehood that should be laughed at with the contempt it deserves because the issue of my age is not in any way related to my business application. My loan was a purely straightforward transaction.”
The fund which is being administered by Allied Bank and Stanbic, among others, is meant to sponsor youths’ projects.
Stanbic had Cde Hlongwane’s name as one of the beneficiaries who received $33,000.
The Mberengwa East legislator was fingered together with Affirmative Action Group president, Chamu Chiwaza, as having abused the Youth Fund.
Stanbic told the parliamentary committee that it had disbursed $5.7 million from $20 million mobilised by the financial institution from depositors to help youths in the country.
derick.khumalo