Agriculture Secretary fired over fertiliser deal
By Tichaona Sibanda
30 November 2006

Simon Pazvakavambwa, the man who famously bragged that he would ‘spill the beans’ if he is fired from his job has now developed cold feet.

Pazvakavambwa, the former Secretary for Agriculture who was fired from the job on Wednesday, is unlikely to reveal the reasons behind the high profile botched deal involving sub-standard fertiliser from South Africa.

When contacted Thursday by Newsreel, Pazvakavambwa speaking from Harare said; ‘I’m not in a position to give a comment now. Lets give it a few more days.’

His dismissal was announced by Misheck Sibanda, Robert Mugabe’s chief cabinet secretary, who also unveiled Shadreck Mlambo as the new head of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The former secretary for Agriculture, described by colleagues as a fearless and open-minded individual, appeared to pour cold water on reports of his pending dismissal last week when he told the Zimbabwe Standard;‘ You know I’m a civil servant. I can’t give a comment but if I am fired you can come to me and I will give you the whole story. At the moment, as we speak I am sitting in my office.’

Pazvakavambwa was embroiled in dodgy deal that turned out to be a political hot potato which saw the government import 80 000 tonnes of sub-standard fertilizer from South Africa. He headed a team of experts who went to South Africa to inspect and certify the sub-standard fertilizer before it was cleared for importation.

But he has always blamed Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, saying he should answer all questions regarding the botched deal. Vincent Gwarazimba, the MDC’s deputy secretary for lands and agriculture who holds a doctorate in seed management, blames the fertiliser saga squarely on the Reserve Bank.

‘As a party we are still wondering why the RBZ got involved in this fertiliser purchase. If Gono has the foreign currency he should simply give it to fertiliser companies like the ZFC and windmill to either import the fertiliser itself as manufactured or to import the essential raw materials to produce enough fertiliser,’ Gwarazimba said.

He added; ‘I know Simon (Pazvakavambwa) personally. He’s an honest person, a good administrator who lives above-board. His only problem is he works for the wrong government. Because he is still a top civil servant waiting to be re-assigned he will never spill the beans as promised because he will be committing a very serious offence under the official secrets act. He is also a Zanu (PF) party cadre and its very unlikely he will ever speak about that deal again.’