Source: ZBC bosses charged again – NewsDay Zimbabwe July 12, 2017
The State has rekindled corruption charges that had previously been withdrawn against two Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) bosses accused of violating procurement procedures by awarding a motor vehicle tender to Croco Motors.
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE
Chief executive, Patrick Mavhura (39) and head of finance, administration and human resources, Benania Shumba (48), on Monday appeared before Harare magistrate, Barbra Chimboza, who remanded them to August 8 on $300 bail each.
Allegations against the two are that on November 3, 2015, Mavhura wrote to Information ministry secretary, George Charamba, requesting authority to buy 45 vehicles from Croco Motors.
The State alleges during the same month, Mavhura and Shumba held an informal meeting with CMED and the latter confirmed to having the vehicles.
It is the State’s case that sometime in January last year, the two convened a meeting with Croco Motors and decided to procure a different set of motor vehicles from those they had sought authority for from Cabinet.
In February last year, Cabinet is said to have authorised the purchase of 45 vehicles, as outlined in the application, but despite having the Cabinet authority, Mavhura and Shumba approached Croco Motors and made a direct purchase of different vehicles.
The State alleges the duo transferred $649 000 into Croco Motors’ bank account and went on to sign an agreement for the procurement of the vehicles.
Sometime in April last year, officers from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission investigated the two and when the pair got wind of the probe, and in a bid to conceal their actions, they compiled minutes in which they purported to have agreed on terms and conditions of the CMED running tender with Croco Motors.
It is alleged the minutes were structured in such a way that everyone, who purportedly attended the meeting was asked to sign the minutes and dates were backdated, but a Nengomasha, who was said to have chaired the meeting, could not sign because he had been retrenched.
In May last year, it is alleged, the duo approached CMED again and requested for a purchase order form to purport as if the vehicles had been bought through CMED, but finance manager Aabudonn Mugida advised them his commission was needed before raising the requested purchase order form.
However, Mavhura and Shumba later transferred $20 000 into the CMED account and requested CMED for the adjusting of dates on the purchase order forms to match the dates they initially obtained the quotation and the officials agreed not knowing that there were investigations being carried out.
COMMENTS