Despair in Mmadinare as ploughing season ends
Friday, February 13, 2015
Square one: Some farmers have resorted to donkey- drawn ploughs for tillage
As the ploughing seasons ends this week, despair has set in in Mmadinare, as most farmers are yet to plant, despite tilling the soil last October.
Yields are expected to be lower than the previous year and farmers blame the tractor owners engaged by government to till their fields, under the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD).
That a single private law firm pocketed P6.5 million for just four cases, out of a total P11.1 million paid for 25 matters, reeks of a system that was not merely disorganised but open to abuse.Bayford has taken a welcome first step by telling the Public Accounts Committee the truth. Now he must act decisively to ensure it never happens again and that any money lost to wrongdoing is recovered.The figures are staggering. Whilst ordinary Batswana...