Zimbabwe: Former City of Harare Bosses Up for U.S.$465,000 Fraud in Failed Mbare Bio-Digester Project
Two former top officials at City of Harare (CoH) have been dragged to court for allegedly awarding a US$465,290 tender to an undeserving company.
The contract was for the establishment of a biodigester in Mbare, Harare after the municipality secured €350,000 from the European Union (EU)
Accused persons, former Director of Works Phillip Mabingo Pfukwa (75) and ex-Chamber Secretary Josephine Ncube (62) appeared at the Harare Regional Anti-Corruption Magistrates Court.
The court heard that sometime in 2013, CoH got a grant from the EU for the design and construction of biogas digesters and the installation of a 100KVA biogas generator for the Mbare Biogas Project.
The procurement process, which was expected to be transparent, was overseen by the Town Clerk and the procurement committee.
However, in March 2015 after receiving four bids, then Director of Works and Chamber Secretary by-passed procurement procedures and unlawfully awarded the tender to Synlak (Private) Limited, a company owned by Moses Mpofu. This was despite that the applicant failed to meet standard requirements.
Pfukwa and Ncube are also accused of falsifying internal memos and misrepresenting Synlak’s eligibility, thereby ensuring the undeserving firm won the contract.
State further alleges that in December 2015, Ncube fraudulently signed off the contract, allowing Synlak (Pvt) Ltd to receive full payment of US$465,290 despite the company failing to deliver on the project.
The duo was remanded to May 14 pending indictment at the High Court.
By New Zimbabwe.
