Story by Owen Mandovha
PARLIAMENT has urged the Mutapa Investment Fund to urgently address governance challenges at the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (COTTCO), amid concerns over delayed payments to farmers and creditors.
The issues emerged during a session of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development, where lawmakers raised alarm over alleged mismanagement and the handling of funds disbursed to the company.
Committee member Honourable Tendai Nyabani said farmers continue to suffer as the company struggles.
“Farmers are suffering while Cottco is reeling under mismanagement… nothing is happening to improve the situation,” he said.
Committee chairperson Honourable Felix Maburutse questioned the decision to place the company under corporate rescue rather than stabilising operations.
“Why has it been placed under corporate rescue instead of supporting it?… farmers have gone for two years without pay,” he said.
COTTCO board chairperson Mr Sifelani Javangwe outlined how the company has utilised allocated funds, while Mutapa Investment Fund chief executive Dr John Mangudya defended the intervention.
“Corporate rescue allows us to pay farmers while reforming the company… there is also a need for new management to take the firm forward,” Dr Mangudya said.
The Mutapa Investment Fund, Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth vehicle, has assumed oversight of several state-owned enterprises as part of efforts to strengthen corporate governance and improve performance.
