Online Reporter
Fidelis Munyoro-Chief Court Reporter
THE trial of business partners Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu, accused of defrauding the state of over US$7 million through the Presidential Goats Pass-On Scheme, resumed with the cross-examination of the State’s key witness, Dr John Basera.
At the centre of the case is the question of whether or not the tender process was manipulated and whether or not payments were made to a fraudulent entity.
Dr Basera, the former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development, was responsible for overseeing the awarding of tenders and subsequent payments at the time.
During cross-examination led by Advocate Tapson Dzvetero, the defence worked to establish that the tender was awarded to a legitimate entity, Blackdeck (Pvt) Ltd, properly registered under Zimbabwean law.
The prosecution, however, contends that the contract was instead signed with Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming, a non-existent company, raising suspicions of fraud and misrepresentation.
Under questioning, Dr Basera acknowledged that Blackdeck (Pvt) Ltd, trading as Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming, participated in the tender alongside three other bidders.
He confirmed that the tender was exclusively open to private companies, not individuals, and emphasised that companies were ultimately owned by people. When asked to examine the tender documents in court, he identified the company’s submissions as genuine, further complicating the prosecution’s argument.
Adv Dzvetero pressed him on how Blackdeck (Pvt) Ltd passed through the tender vetting process if irregularities existed.
Dr Basera explained that the company successfully cleared the preliminary evaluation, meeting all the stipulated criteria.
He admitted, however, that had the evaluation team conducted a thorough review, any anomalies would have been flagged at this stage.
“If the team had done a good job, that would have been picked,” he said.
After passing the initial vetting, Blackdeck also cleared the technical evaluation, satisfying all tender specifications with valid documents.
At the financial evaluation stage, the company emerged as the lowest compliant bidder, aligning with the Government’s cost considerations. When asked if the evaluation committee accepted Blackdeck’s pricing without negotiation, Dr Basera confirmed, “They simply checked the documents and do not negotiate during the evaluation process.”
The final hurdle was the Special Procurement Oversight Committee (SPOC) under the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ). Here too, Blackdeck prevailed.
Dr Basera maintained that if the documents were fraudulent, they would have been detected during any of the four stages of evaluation.
“The anomalies would have been picked in all the four stages if people in these committees had done a proper job,” he said.
Before signing the contract, Dr Basera revealed that he referred the company for due diligence. However, when questioned about the tender documents presented in court, he admitted he could not verify whether they were exact copies of those submitted during the bidding process. In his earlier testimony, he claimed the contract was signed with Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming, a non-existent entity.
This led Advocate Dzvetero to suggest that payments amounting to US$7.7 million were directed to the wrong company.
Dr Basera’s response was: “It is neither here nor there.” Pressed further, he clarified that the funds were indeed paid to Blackdeck (Pvt) Ltd.
Advocate Dzvetero pointed to the payment made into Blackdeck’s CABS account, which Dr Basera confirmed. The defence then argued that the Ministry itself breached the contract by failing to adhere to Clause 29, which required an advance payment of 30 percent of the contract sum — approximately US$19 to US$21 million after adjustments.
Dr Basera conceded the Ministry had not paid this upfront amount, which was meant to enable Blackdeck to deliver the goats and associated infrastructure, including holding pens, security, and logistics.
“This was not just delivery of goats but meant to include logistics, mobilization, labour, infrastructure like holding pens, security, among others, all over the country for the entire 632,000 goats across Zimbabwe,” Advocate Dzvetero argued.
Dr Basera acknowledged this explanation but noted that, in some instances, the defence argument made sense, while in others, “to a lesser extent.”
The defence highlighted that the Ministry’s failure to pay the 30 percent advance made it impossible for Blackdeck to perform.
Dr Basera admitted that this argument was “fair,” but he maintained that Blackdeck had misled the Ministry by claiming to have mobilised 32,500 goats.
When challenged to provide evidence of this claim, Dr Basera accepted that no letter or documentation proving the 32,500 goats had been presented in court.
Adv Dzvetero also told the witness that Blackdeck had informed the Ministry that the goats were scattered across the country and in the hands of various sellers, making on-site verification challenging.
The prosecution alleges that Chimombe and Mpofu forged tax clearance and social security compliance certificates to secure the tender.
However, under cross-examination, Dr Basera held firm that the two misrepresented their capacity to deliver 32,500 goats.
Despite the defence’s attempts to corner him with pointed questions, Dr Basera emphasised that the accused were dishonest in their dealings with the Ministry.
The accusations stem from tender documents submitted in September 2021 when the Ministry invited bids for the supply of 632,001 goats under a scheme valued at US$87,757,168.
The defence continues to argue that the Ministry’s own procedural breaches and failure to provide the agreed 30 percent advance payment incapacitated Blackdeck, making the contract’s execution impossible.
Meanwhile, the prosecution remains focused on proving that the accused manipulated the process for personal gain. The trial continues today.
