via Mavhaire named in trust funds scam 16/12/2014
FORMER energy minister Dzikamai Mavhaire has been accused of lining his pockets with development funds under the Masvingo Community Share Ownership Trust.
Masvingo has three major companies namely Renco Mine, Bikita Minerals and Tongaat Hullets, which have all pledged a combined $500 000 annually into the Trust’s fund.
But acting Zanu PF Masvingo province chairman Paradzai Chakona said three years since the launch of the scheme by President Robert Mugabe, not a single cent has been remitted into the Trust Fund.
Chakona said some of the companies that made pledges during the official launch of the trust funds had backtracked after learning that only politicians had been named as trustees.
He accused ousted former Chairman Calisto Gwanetsa and former politburo member Dzikamai Mavhaire of receiving bribes to derail the share ownership schemes.
“The trust should have $1.5m by now but the account has nothing, because some powerful politicians were receiving money from these companies just to block the success of the trust fund,” Chakona said.
He added: “We are now going after the pledges to ensure that every cent ends up developing the community, if greed had now taken its toll, we should be miles away, refurbishing schools, roads and drilling more boreholes in the rural areas,” Chakona said.
Mavhaire has also been accused of abusing ZESA Holdings funds to finance Zanu PF factional activities, allegations for which he was fired from government last week.
The state media on Tuesday quoted George Magosvogwe, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Youth Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, saying government is prepared to force companies to fulfil their pledge.
The paper reported that only a third of the country’s community share ownership trusts launched around the country are operational.
“The law says they must pay and when the president said they should pay he said it within the parameters of the law; so they should just comply and not wait for us to enforce because if they do not comply we will enforce,” Magosvogwe told the state media.
The Community Share Ownership Trust Schemes are the brainchild of President Robert Mugabe.
The scheme encouraged companies to plough back a share of their profits into the communities in which they operated in.
Companies were supposed to release funds into the community share ownership trust fund.
The money released into the fund was supposed to be used for developmental projects by the community.
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