Online Reporter
B-Metro Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has pounced on a couple accused of looting over US$415 000 meant to power up Mbare with clean energy — but instead, it all went up in smoke.
Vusumuzi James Mpofu and his partner in crime, Nobukhosi Mpofu, directors of Synlak (Pvt) Ltd, were arrested this week in connection with the scandal-riddled Mbare Biogas Project. The project, funded by a €350 000 (US$415 000) European Union grant, was meant to light up Mbare with a 100KVA biogas generator — but not even a puff of smoke ever materialised.
“They secured the contract through misrepresentation,” said ZACC spokesperson Simiso Mlevu. “Synlak lied about being authorised resellers of Camda New Energy Technology Co. Ltd — a key tender requirement.”
According to ZACC, Synlak, with help from corrupt City of Harare insiders — former Director of Works Phillip Pfukwa and ex-Chamber Secretary Josephine Ncube — manipulated payments and got the money before doing the work. The accused allegedly siphoned the funds from Synlak’s CABS and BancABC accounts through a series of shady cash withdrawals.
“These payments were made before project completion,” Mlevu revealed. “That’s how the funds vanished.”
The Mbare Biogas Project, once touted as a green energy game-changer, has now turned into a symbol of rot and fraud.
ZACC says the web of corruption didn’t end with the MPOFU, Moses Mpofu, another Synlak co-owner, is already in remand for an unrelated charge, and the city officials implicated are also behind bars.
Harare’s Acting Town Clerk, Mabhena Moyo, blew the whistle — and the crackdown began.
Vusumuzi and Nobukhosi Mpofu are expected to appear in court at Rotten Row on 9 May 2025.
“The law will take its course,” Mlevu vowed. “Public funds are not personal piggy banks.”
Watch this space — more heads could roll as ZACC digs deeper into the Mbare mess.
