Zambia farmers' body apologizes to donors over misappropriation of funds

A farmers' body at the center of a scandal of alleged misappropriation of donor funds on Monday rendered an apology and called for a new start in the relations.

Some senior officials of the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) were accused of alleged misappropriation of donor funds after an audit of the association's accounts.

The Swedish and Finland government suspended funding to the association and demanded refunds of their money.

According to audit findings, about 3.3 million U.S. dollars was misappropriated in high level suspected fraud. The association's former chairperson and executive director have since been arrested.

Jervis Zimba, the new chairman of the board acknowledged that what has happened in the association this year has dented its image and that his board will work tirelessly to restore confidence and establish good working relations with all stakeholders.

The new board, he said, has taken responsibility over the situation and will take steps to reach out in order to regain and rebrand the association for the benefit of members and the growth of the agricultural sector.

"The new board will conduct a comprehensive review of the association upon which specific measures will be undertaken for the future of the association in order to rationalize the use of resources," he said in a statement.

Prudent management of resources will be at the center of surgical measures the union will undertake as it tries to implement a survival plan, he added.

Two audits were conducted to ascertain the level of allegation of misappropriation of funds at the association. The first audit was conducted in 2015 but the farmers' board rejected the findings, prompting the donors to ask KPMG to conduct a new audit in July this year. Endit