Writing on microblogging site Twitter on Friday afternoon, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Ndavaningi Nick Mangwana dismissed the reports as false. He said:
Zimbabwe is paying its farmers ZWL$4000 for a tonne of maize based on a FOB import parity. Tanzania is one of very few countries in the region with maize to export as most were affected by drought. That said, we are not paying them US$600 per tonne.
The “corrupt” deal has reportedly slowed the response from international organisations to the United Nations’ appeal for emergency funding to alleviate Zimbabwe’s food shortfall.