WHO will police the police? This is the most commonly asked question each time somebody entrusted to perform certain duties does so in a manner contrary to what they would have been mandated to.

Similarly, widespread allegations of corruption and abuse of inputs meant for Government farming programmes by some Agritex officials that are expected to play the role of custodians have left many wondering why people mandated to facilitate the roll-out of the schemes would act in a manner detrimental to their successful roll-out.

The situation has not done the department any favour, as the controversies have dragged its name through the mud and even attracted the attention of President Mnangagwa, who in most cases has been involved in resource mobilisation and initiation of the schemes, but leaving the distribution part to the responsible departments on the ground.

Suffice it to say that the President was very disturbed when he got wind of the development and rightly made his disappointment known when he warned the alleged culprits to stop their tomfooleries immediately lest the long arm of the law would be summoned to take its course.

He issued the stern warning during the commissioning of the Tabudirira Fruit and Vegetable Processing Plant in Mutoko.

His warning comes in the wake of widespread allegations that some Agritex officials were deliberately leaving out names of people who qualify to benefit under Government’s various inputs schemes meant to boost production and address food insecurity.

President Mnangagwa said all farmers who managed to complete training and land preparations under the climate-proofed Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme deserved to receive inputs, adding that extension officers were there to certify the farmers’ qualification and not shut the door on them.

Some extension officers are reportedly leaving out names of some desperate families that naturally qualify to get input assistance, leaving people wondering whether it is their duty to decide who qualifies or who does not, yet Government has been very clear that no one should be left behind in the drive to boost agricultural production and productivity once they meet the set requirements.

Generally, Agritex extension officers should replicate what Government says or does because they are on the ground on behalf of the Government, but they have no capacity to introduce their own policies.

Their role is to facilitate the implementation of Government policies through providing technical guidance and assistance to farmers, who they are meant to shepherd to boost agricultural production.

It is not rocket science that excluding deserving farmers from Governmental programmes is an act tantamount to sabotaging that programme because at the end of the season the results that come out will not be reflective of the schemes’ full potential.

In a way, this can also easily translate into economic damage given that the country’s economy is agro-based and everything that happens to farming — good or bad — will have a telling effect on the welfare of the economy.

It is time to stop the rot within the ranks of Agritex forthwith because it seems to have been festering for a long time with one incident reported as far back as November 2012 when four Concession Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and one Agritex official were arrested for allegedly abusing inputs comprising 43 by 50kg of fertiliser and 86 by 10kg of maize seed after compiling a false list of 43 beneficiaries from Mapere Farm in the area.

In a related incident, a Chegutu councillor was arrested alongside two soldiers, a police officer, a general hand at the GMB, a transporter and two Agritex extension officers for diverting inputs valued at $1,1 million before selling and putting some of them to their own use last year.

The inputs were meant for small-scale farmers who perennially struggle to mobilise resources to get their farming season going.

The eight reportedly grabbed tonnes of inputs comprising Ammonium Nitrate and Compound D fertilisers and seed maize after inflating numbers on the list of beneficiaries.

Only 242 by 50kg of fertiliser, 80 by 50kg lime and 15kg of seed maize were recovered.

In all the incidents, Agritex officers, although acting with other accomplices, were the ones who had total influence and eventually the last say since everything that goes out to farmers will need their certification, with the accomplices only there to sanitise the crime and make it appear legit.

The two incidents under the spotlight may just be drops in an ocean given that chances are bountiful that the practice could have been happening unnoticed for years.

This means that Government could have lost substantial quantities of inputs through this chicanery, while everybody thought everything was going according to the book.

It is unfortunate that this abuse of trust will eventually affect the entire nation after every season that comes when eventual yields fail to allow a break even since some of the inputs would not have been put to the correct use yet their procurement costs will still need to be settled.

It is time all loopholes that have in the past been exploited by such wayward extension officers are plugged and the distribution process be monitored seriously from the lists of beneficiaries to the point where the inputs are disbursed.

Benefiting farmers must prove beyond doubt that they are the ones on the lists while efforts should also be made at ward or village level to tally quantities on lists and what one would have received.

There are chances such errant extension officers can easily work in cahoots with some farmers who will collect extras that will later be taken by the rogue officers and used for personal gratification rather than national interests.

On the one hand, it would also help the situation if Government got the input distribution going way ahead of the start of the cropping season every time to make sure there is time for thorough monitoring of the process.

It is highly possible that some of the looting is taking place during those times when everyone is rushing to get the distribution done when inputs come a bit late for the season, with everyone seized with seeing that the farmers are getting served.

The system needs to be fool proofed to avoid further leakages of inputs some of which usually find their way into the black market where they will play a part in influencing the pricing structures after false shortages are created in conventional retail outlets.