The government has for the past few years intensified campaigns to promote modern farming to enhance the country’s crop production. The drive has to, a large extent, yielded fruit. However, some of the government institutions supposed to spearhead this drive are being cited in irregular dealings which could undo the achievements in the agriculture sector.

According to the Auditor-General’s report, released last week, agro-equipment worth billions of francs procured by the Ministry of Agriculture has been abandoned and is wasting away in its stores and yards.

This is despite the fact that farmers countrywide lack facilitation or access to technologies that could help them enhance crop productivity to get better yields. One wonders whether the ministry bought equipment without carrying out due diligence on the agricultural needs of our farmers. Some of the machines bought cannot be used locally.

Now, the ministry is telling Rwandans they will resale the equipment, without explaining why they procured them in the first place. Such negligence should not be tolerated as it stiffles government’s efforts to transform the agriculture sector –a key driver in achieving the country’s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II).

Why did the ministry wait for the Auditor General to discover the anormally? What if the Auditor-General had not discovered it, what would have happened? Whatever the ministry’s plans are concerning the equipment, the officials who handled the procurement process should be held accountable. Someone should answer why they spent billions of francs to buy equipment that cannot be used anywhere in the country.

Such acts threaten efforts aimed at promoting food security and agro-exports, and expose the economy to risk in the medium to long-run.