Timothy
HARARE – The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts on Monday directed that a warrant of arrest be issued against a top private company official whose company has been contracted to provide government with fertiliser, for “wilfully” absconding hearings.
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman, Tendai Biti said the warrant against Fertiliser Seed Grain (FSG) managing director, Steve Morland was for consistently disrespecting Parliament.
“We are extremely disappointed that whilst FSG has been quick to avail itself to another committee of Parliament, namely the agricultural committee, they have avoided like a plague, attendance at this meeting,” Biti told reporters.
“We think that they have been in wilful default so they consciously and deliberately avoided coming to this meeting. We are therefore directing the Clerk of Parliament, the esteemed Mr Kennedy Chokuda, to issue a warrant of arrest against Mr Steve Morland, the managing director of this company, for default of attendance on the 14th of October, 2019 and today, the 28 of October,2019.”
He said the same company would again be requested to appear before the PAC on November 22, 2019.
FSG, a manufacturer of agricultural inputs, was recently in the eye of a storm following allegations the firm was given a contract worth US$400 million to supply inputs, but failed to deliver.
The company dismissed the allegations.
The PAC is investigating to what extent the company delivered on its contractual obligations.
Meanwhile, Biti also threatened to slap two senior officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development with warrant of arrests after they also failed to appear before the committee in connection with funds released for agriculture.
“We are very saddened by the continuous disrespect of Parliament, so we are giving the Ministry of Finance one more last chance before we direct the Clerk of Parliament to issue a warrant of arrest, as he is permitted to do in terms of the Parliamentary Privileges Act,” he said.
“So we are re-summoning the Ministry of Finance on Friday 15 November, 2019.” – New Ziana
Bongani Ndlovu