Bogus NEEF officials milk Kasungu would-be beneficiaries
Some men who are posing as National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) employees are allegedly stealing from would-be beneficiaries in Kasungu district by allegedly demanding a K10 000 fee for speedy processing of the loan.
Both councilor for Chankhanga Ward, Brighton Ngalande, and Group Village Headman Yanjanani of Traditional Authority (TA) Mwase have confirmed the development on Sunday.
According to Yanjanani, the unidentified scammers have been meeting with different business groups where they have been demanding K10, 000 for them to speed up the processes.
Despite paying the demanded cash, the chief said no group has, so far, received the loan from NEEF as expected.
“They move to every group demanding K10, 000. They tell the beneficiaries that the NEEF loan will not just come on a silver plate unless beneficiaries have done something. And because of the demand for the loan, many have been paying the said cash,” said Yanjanani.
He said some people have gone to the extent of selling their property in order to meet the K10 000 demand.
And, speaking to a gathering at Kulinga 2 where there was also a donation of personal protective equipment, councilor Ngalande told people to stop entertaining such people saying government is yet to start disbursing the NEEF loans.
While asking for patience on part of the beneficiaries, Ngalande said together with the district NEEF workers, the community will receive formal communication on any progress.
He described the scammers as thieves and not NEEF workers as they claim and asked them to report them to police.
Kasungu police spokesperson, Harry Namwaza, could neither confirm nor deny the allegation but admitted that there were a number of fraudsters in the district.
He said as police they have also received reports of the tricksters who poses as law enforcers and demand cash from relatives of suspects in police custody.
“The problem is people do not report such incidences in time. There are a number of them out there and we urge the community to be reporting such matters to police immediately,” he said.
NEEF officials are yet to issue a comment on the matter.
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Sad that some people continue to take advantage of uneducated and financially poor people creating even more hardship. May they be caught arrested imprisoned and striped of their assets in fines.
Koma mmene alengedzera muja anthu sakumvetsabe. Pena pake tinaonongedwa kungoganidza za katangale basi.