By A Correspondent| Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka is in the eye of a storm after allegedly influencing Cottco to appoint his longtime girlfriend Cynthia Tapera as the company’s marketing officer, sources at the parastatal have revealed.

Minister Masuka and Tapera’s romance is said to have flourished while they were working at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society.

“They have known each for a while now and everyone knows that she is the Minister’s girlfriend. Masuka approached several parastatals under him to find a home for his mistress but the government owned institutions resisted. She eventually found home at Cottco where Masuka wields a lot of influence,” the sources said.

Cottco website confirms that indeed Tapera was employed at ZAS.

“Cynthia Tapera is an accomplished Brand Management expert who successfully repositioned and rebranded the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, participated in the turnaround of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society to financial growth,” reads the glowing tribute to her on the site.

Masuka was the chief executive at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society before his appointment at the agriculture minister.

The minister is accused of turning Cottco into his fiefdom.

Masuka allegedly owns a company called Tatoo Advertising jointly operated with Tapera which has won controversial tenders.

Tapera allegedly initiated the purchasing of 2 Brahman Bulls using Cottco funds for the minister.

“He further knows that some of his corrupt activities are under investigation, this includes the fact that he has a mansion which was built by the Chinese as a reward for winning them a tender to construct dams across the country,” said the source.