SANYATI farmers are up in arms with the government-owned Cottco which they accuse of using political connections to armtwist them into selling their produce to the State entity.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

They accuse Cottco of using Zanu PF structures and chiefs to force them into selling cotton only to the company, at the expense of other players who are now also funding the cotton industry.

A farmer, Veronicah Mukungumwa, said she was now living in fear after being branded a sellout for selling her cotton to a private buyer, whom she had entered into a contract with and received inputs from.

“I am now being accused of sabotaging Zanu PF and selling out simply because I sold my produce to another buyer who is not Cottco,” she said.

“These people purport to speak for and represent President (Robert) Mugabe, yet when we ask our Member of Parliament, he says he is not aware of that.”

Last week, cotton farmers teamed up in Sanyati and assaulted middlemen, who were purporting to represent Cottco, as the war for control turned violent

Cottco acting managing director Pious Manamike admitted to using traditional leaders and Zanu PF structures to collect cotton from farmers, saying the company had funded the crop by disbursing free seed.

“The farmers were given the inputs on condition they would sell their cotton to Cottco and contracts were signed with each farmer to that effect,” he said.

“We do work with the local leadership to mobilise the cotton from those who accessed inputs under the Presidential Inputs Scheme by highlighting the benefits to the farmer.”

Sanyati legislator Blessed Geza (Zanu PF) said it was unfortunate that there were people who wanted to encourage a monopoly in the cotton industry and in the process violating contractual obligations.

“We need competition in the cotton industry so that farmers can get the best price for their crop. We also can’t have people who are being used as middlemen, forcing farmers to sell their cotton to Cottco when they got inputs from elsewhere,” he said.

“That is not acceptable. Those who got inputs from Cottco should sell to Cottco, but those who got inputs elsewhere should sell there.”

Geza said he had approached Cottco after receiving numerous complaints from farmers in his constituency.