Fake ZRA agents fleece job seekers along Zambezi River

Walter Nyamukondiwa
Kariba Bureau
Unscrupulous opportunists are pretending to be agents of the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) to get people along the Zambezi River to pay them to facilitate jobs when construction of the Batoka Gorge hydroelectric scheme starts.

The job seekers have paid undisclosed amounts for the fake employment.

The major dam and a pair of power stations will be constructed along the Zambezi River, about 47km from Victoria Falls town.

A social and environmental impact assessment has been conducted and communities to be affected by the project are now being briefed and consulted.

It emerged during the disclosure meetings that some people in Hwange, Jambezi, some adjacent villages and centres were being asked to part with money to be registered for employment by some people.

The ZRA, which is undertaking the project on behalf of Zimbabwe and Zambia, has expressed dismay at the development.

ZRA chief executive Engineer Munyaradzi Munodawafa said the culprits were masquerading as agents appointed by his organisation to oversee the recruitment process.

“People purporting to be recruitment agents appointed by the authority or the developer are illegally registering and collecting monies from unsuspecting members of the public, especially those that are resident in Hwange, Jambezi and other villages and townships,” he said.

Eng Munodawafa called on people in communities adjacent to the project site to be vigilant and guard against being fleeced of their money.

The culprits should be reported to the nearest law enforcement agencies.

“All employment opportunities i.e. professional, skilled and unskilled will be publicised through the mass media and traditional leadership in the project area when the project construction works approach commencement,” said Eng Munodawafa.

ZRA, he said, would continue to ensure that the people of Zimbabwe and Zambia derive maximum benefit from the shared Zambezi River and infrastructure.

“As a bi-national organisation, the authority remains committed to ensuring that the peoples of the Republics of Zambia and Zimbabwe draw equal social and economic benefits from the development of the Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric Scheme without exploitation of any citizen, without exhibition of favouritism and without infringement of human rights whatsoever,” said Eng Munodawafa.