via Mugabe aide admits ‘culpability’ in medical aid looting scam | SW Radio Africa by Mthulisi Mathuthu on Thursday, February 6, 2014
As the exposés on corporate corruption continue to unravel, Presidential spokesman George Charamba has admitted to his ‘culpability’ in a looting scam that has rocked the Premier Medical Aid Society (PSMAS).
President Mugabe’s top aide also revealed that his boss was the PSMAS patron. According to a Wednesday Daily News report Charamba said that about 80 percent of the society’s contributors are civil servants, whom the government routinely struggles to pay.
Charamba’s admission came as it emerged that he sat on the board that approved the mega-salary and benefits of the leading medical aid society’s chief executive.
Reports said Charamba also sat on 13 committees of the PSMAS whose boss, Cuthbert Dube, earned half a million dollars every month.
However, according to the Daily News, Charamba sought to exonerate himself by claiming that he and his fellow board members ‘found the machinery in place.’ He said they did not ‘ask the right questions’ on the assumption that government policy was being followed.
Charamba further claimed that he was the least paid board member. But according to the Daily News revelations, Dube was earning $30,000 in board fees per month, which means Charamba could also have benefited. The report says Charamba not only served on several PSMAS subsidiary company boards but sat on key committees, which include the benefits, finance and budget committees.
MDC-T deputy National Organizing secretary, Abednico Bhebhe, said the involvement of Charamba at the PSMAS shows that Dube’s ‘corrupt salary’ was part of the broader corruption entrenched in the President’s office. Bhebhe said: ‘In my view Mugabe, whether he knew of Dube’s obscene salary or not, was most probably brought in to scare away any possible whistle blowing on the scam. ’ He added: ‘Dube cannot have been able to do all that without some people in that office working with him and protecting him.’
Bhebhe said Charamba , by virtue of being a board member, was part of the scam.
Revelations that Charamba may have benefited in the PSMAS salary scam puts another twist to the ZANU PF factionalism which is seen as the main driver of the exposés on ‘corrupt salaries.’ All along the exposés were said to have affected only those executives aligned to the faction led by vice President Joice Mujuru, leading to the belief that the other faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa was instigating everything.
Charamba, who hails from Buhera, is said to belong to the Mnangagwa faction.
COMMENTS
What is yours is mine. Anything less is an imperialist conspiracy. Complainers are traitors. George is just a lucky peasant. Why can’t you all be happy for him instead of all this negativity
Board fees are meant to compensate for the 3 or 4 hours per month or quarter even that Board meetings take place. If the board members were getting any more than $200 per hour then they were abusing their fiduciary duty to the organisation! How much was Charamba getting?
In addition if PSMAS was in such dire financial trouble then the Board memebers were obviously not doing their job!
There is no more zim,there is only zanupf project,they do whatever they please as long it is in line with zanupatriotric corrupt driven its ok.nyika yava mamvemev,good by beautiful Zimbabwe
George Charamba admits “culpability” to the looting! This would be like Jack the Ripper admitting to culpable homicide after he was finally caught after committing a whole string of brutal and savagery murders! Charamba was a highly paid board member of PSMAS and has been pocketing his own share of the loot same as Cuthbert Dube and the rest.
When one looks at the scale of the looting it is clear why Mugabe and the rest of the Zanu PF ruling (and looting) elite blatantly rigged the elections all these years. The prospect of regime change and the certainty of not just being forced to stop their looting but of their past looting activities coming to light were simply unthinkable.
The nation is going to get to the bottom of the looting at PSMAS and all the other cases as well as the vote rigging and the political murders. And you can be rest assured George; it will not be culpable homicide but cold blooded murder you will be charged with!
Thus why more of the looting scandals were left unjudged coz in zanu hands but the exposed is 2/10 of total loots,only j moyo is lucky to be on triger holder he should have pay the debt of exposing party secretes.next he will be gunpointed to be sillent
Where are the ZANU PF stalwarts? If this was an MDC issue they would be all over with blind support for the party that has driven its people to the wall. But here we have an issue that shows how ZANU PF stands for corruption. I m challenging the stalwarts to defend ZANU PF in the face of such blatantly evil acts by top officials.
What more of proof or evidence do we need to know how bad Zanu Pf is.