Staff Reporter

Government has warned members of the public against fake advertisement circulating on social media platforms from fraudsters who are purporting to belong to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.

In a statement yesterday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr John Bhasera warned citizens to be wary of fraudsters who might want to dupe them through Facebook purporting to be officials from the Ministry.

“The Ministry has taken note of a Fake advertisement circulating on various social media platforms, calling for applications from prospective beneficiaries through a link purporting to belong to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development. The Ministry disowns the Facebook page (Ministry of Lands, Agric, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development) which is fake and does not belong to our Ministry,” said Dr Bhasera.

Dr Bhasera warned members of the public from receiving deceitful information from the fake ministry`s Facebook page.

“Our official Facebook page is Lands Agriculture Zimbabwe. Members of the public are warned to be cautious of losing their hard earned cash to this fraudster. The Ministry, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Smallholder Cluster Programme (SACP) will not be held liable for any losses and inconveniences incurred by members of the public who respond to this fake advertisement,” said Dr Bhasera.

Dr Bhasera highlighted that SACP had not reached a stage where it calls for expressions of interest from targeted beneficiaries who include agriculture producer groups, small business enterprises and value chain lead enterprises. He added that the programme was currently carrying out sensitization of communities in Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central, Matebeleland North and Midlands provinces.

Meanwhile, the Ministry has partnered with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), OPEC Fund for International Development, private sector and prospective beneficiaries to implement the Smallholder Agriculture Cluster Project (SACP) which would run until December 2017.