Source: Ex-Harare council bosses in $32m scam – DailyNews Live
Tarisai Machakaire 24 May 2017
HARARE – Former Harare City Council (HCC) treasurer Wilton Janjazi and
four other ex-procurement board members were dragged to court yesterday on
allegations of abuse of office relating to $32 million worth of tenders
that were reportedly awarded to unregistered companies.
The five – Misheck Mubvumbi, 64, Urayayi Mangwiro, 42, Masiye Kapare, 48,
Paula Macharangwanda, 51, and Janjazi, 47 – appeared before Harare
magistrate Barbra Chimboza facing two counts of criminal abuse of duty as
public officers.
Each of the accused persons was ordered to pay $400 bail and remanded to
June 22.
Mubvumbi is a lawyer at J Mambara and Partners while Mangwiro, Kapare and
Macharangwanda are former HCC procurement board members.
Sometime in 2010, the council embarked on a programme to rehabilitate its
sewerage plants at Firle and Crowbrough.
Mubvumbi was responsible for ensuring availability of funds.
Janjazi, Mangwiro, Kapare and Macharangwanda were responsible for
procurement of goods before recommending approval by full council.
At that time, Harare was governed by the Urban Councils Act which provided
for the establishment of tender sub-committees composed of respective
officials before recommending to the procurement board for award of
contracts.
Prosecutor Sabastian Mutizirwa alleged that sometime in 2010, Mubvumbi and
his accomplices allegedly breached procedures and smuggled in an
unregistered company for the award of a contract.
The contract was awarded to Energy Resources Africa Consortium and the
accused persons reportedly came up with a bill of quantities that was not
priced and corruptly neglected to request bidders to submit CR 14 forms,
certificate of incorporation, tax clearance certificates and audited
financial statements.
It was alleged that the Tender Formulation Team should have met to
discuss, define and formulate the tender specifications for the
rehabilitation of Firle Sewage Works.
The court heard that former town clerk Tendai Mahachi, Simon Takawira
Muserere and Christopher Zvobgo connived with the accused persons and
allegedly handpicked companies that had no capacity to bid for the
rehabilitation.
On the tender opening day, it is alleged that Mubvumbi and his accomplices
should have realised that Energy Resources Africa Consortium did not meet
the prerequisite requirements and disqualified it on that basis.
In a bid to conceal the offence, the court heard that Mubvumbi and his
accomplices referred to Energy Resources Africa Consortium as a registered
company trading as Portriver.
An amount of $13 816 117,10 was deposited into the company’s account
although no sewerage rehabilitation work was performed.
It was further alleged that using the same modus operandi, another tender
was awarded to Sidal Engineering (Pvt) Ltd worth $18 121 125, 10 for the
same sewerage rehabilitation project.
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