EX-ZINARA CEO CONVICTED

Zvikomborero Parafini

FORMER ZINARA acting chief executive, Saston Muzenda, was convicted of violating tender procedures by Harare magistrate Feresi Chakanyuka yesterday.

Muzenda was convicted of criminal abuse of duty as a public officer after a full trial.

He was found guilty of allowing Ex-Combatants Security company to provide its services to ZINARA when the board had resolved to give the job to Modern Security and Real Star Security companies.

Muzenda is expected back in court today for mitigation.

In her judgment, magistrate Chakanyuka said there was no justification for Muzenda to award the tender to Ex-Combatants when the board had already contracted Modern Security and Real Star.

She said he had other options to deal with the matter lawfully, if he was aggrieved, such as the Civil Court, instead of taking the unlawful route.

The State proved that in June 2019, Modern Security and Real Star Security companies were awarded tenders to provide services at ZINARA’s northern and southern regions starting from September 1 of the same year.

During that period Ex-Combatants and National Eye Security’s contracts were expected to end on August 31, 2019, before Modern Security and Real Star Security companies took over. 

Muzenda had already allowed Ex-Combatants Security to deploy security guards in areas manned by National Eye Security when he assumed the post.

In a bid to cover his back, Muzenda wrote to the then Procurement Regulatory Authority, seeking an extension of services for Ex-Combatants Security.

However, the authority asked Muzenda for the contracts and he responded by saying he had already extended its contract by 12 months.

Muzenda’s actions showed bias against Modern Security and Real Star security companies, which was against tender procedures.

During the trial, Muzenda denied the charges saying the security companies were already embroiled in contractual disputes when he assumed the position of acting CEO.

He told the court that there was a committee set up to deal with the contracts of the security companies.