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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
A ZANU-PF Women’s League senior member in Hwange district has been arrested after she allegedly stole 42 bags of maize seed and fertiliser meant for villagers under the Presidential Input Scheme.

Beauty Moyo (53), who is chairperson for Kachechete Ward, allegedly told beneficiaries that the inputs were meant for party members and not opposition parties’ supporters.

She allegedly took 21x50kg bags of Compound D fertiliser and 21x10kg packets of maize seed which were meant for those she sidelined for not supporting Zanu-PF.

Moyo was arrested and the inputs were recovered at her homestead following complaints by villagers that she allegedly hijacked the distribution process resulting in scores of them failing to access the inputs.

Moyo appeared before Victoria Falls magistrate Ms Rangarirai Gakanje facing fraud charges.

She was not asked to plead and was remanded in custody to Tuesday next week for trial.

Prosecuting, Mr Takunda Ndovorwi said Moyo, popularly known as NaMemory, had 21 national identity cards of people she claimed were from Mpumelelo Village as she misrepresented to Grain Marketing Board (GMB) officials.

There are 18 homesteads in Mpumelelo village and none of them received the inputs after Moyo told them that their names could not be found, village head Mr Gilbert Ncube told the police.

“The complainant is the GMD represented by Mr Gift Moyo. On 30 October Beauty Moyo presented 21 National Identity Cards to the GMB official claiming that all the people were from Mpumelelo village under village head Mr Gilbert Ncube. She said she had been sent to collect the inputs on their behalf,” said the prosecutor.

The court was told that Moyo was given 21x50kg bags of compound D fertiliser and 21x10kg bags of maize seed.

Moyo allegedly hired a villager, Clever Moyo, to transport the loot to her homestead and paid him $1 for each bag.

“Some of the people she included on the list were not from Mpumelelo village while some were said to come from BH 17, 20 and 21 which are non-existent areas,” the court was told.

While a family is entitled to a single bag of each item under the Presidential Inputs scheme, Moyo allegedly allocated a bag each to herself, husband, her son and daughter-in-law.

As a result, the court heard, others failed to access the inputs thereby causing chaos in Ndlovu during the week.

Some disgruntled villagers stormed the distribution centre and distributed the inputs to all those that had been excluded.

Four villagers Phumulani Ndlovu (38), Lovemore Ndlovu (50), Phephisiwe Dube (41) and Dumisani Khumalo (44) were arrested and appeared in court on Saturday charged with robbery after the incident in which they were armed with knives and knobkerries.

They were released on $60 each and will reappear Tuesday.—@ncubeleon