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firm NOOA Petroleum a contract to supply five million litres of fuel last month could have been done in breach of State Procurement Board procedures.SPB chairman, Mr Charles Kuwaza, yesterday said the firm was not among companies registered to fulfill Government tenders.
He also said they were not aware of Noczim’s unbu-ndling into two firms, PetroTrade and the National Oil Infrastructure Company, as announced by Minister Mangoma.
After having tried to distance himself from the deal, it emerged this week that Minister Mangoma wrote to PetroTrade saying the fuel should be bought without going to tender.
Yesterday, Mr Kuwaza said, “For Noczim to purchase fuel from any company, those companies should be registered with the National Procurement Board.
“This particular NOOA is not registered with the National Procurement Board. There are certain requirements; we vet those companies on their litigation history and if they are paying tax among other issues.
“We don’t want to deal with fly-by-night companies and we have never heard about NOOA.”
He said the SPB had heard of NOOA through the media.
“We are asking Noczim how it is that NOOA came onto the scene when they are not registered because all public enterprises are required to operate through the Procurement Board,” Mr Kuwaza said.
He said they were awaiting Noczim’s response before deciding what action to take.
In an interview, Minister Mangoma said he opted not to got to tender because Zimbabwe was facing cri-tical fuel shortages and they expected the petroleum delivered within 48 hours.
About 20 percent of that fuel, it is understood, has found its way into the country and the State could have been prejudiced of US$4,4 million.
A further US$1,6 million was reportedly spent on Zimra charges.
The fuel cost 88 US cents per litre.
Said Minister Mangoma: “We sat down with the Permanent Secretary (Mr Justin Mupamhanga) on what action to take and we agreed that in order to avert the shortages we should buy from NOOA.”
Mr Mupamhanga last week told the House of Asse-mbly Committee on Mines and Energy that Govern-ment had been “hoodwinked”.
Minister Mangoma insisted: “The necessary checks were done on NOOA and it was found to be a reputable company.”
He accused Zimra and the Environmental Manage-ment Agency of putting bottlenecks on movement of the fuel, which was coming by road and rail and meant to supply Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland.
Minister Mangoma said the money had gone through a Noczim account and this had caused problems with Zimra.
Zimra reportedly said Noczim’s account could not be used for transactions involving another entity.
Government officials say both PetroTrade and the National Oil Infrastructure Company were subject to standard procurement procedures.
Minister Mangoma responded, “There was no tender so there is no need to talk about a tender.”
In a letter dated January 12, he wrote to the acting chief executive of PetroTrade, Engineer Griffin Revanewako, saying his directive to buy from NOOA without going to tender should be quickly implemented.
Sources also indicated Noczim’s unbundling had not been procedural and Cabinet was yet to approve of the deal – though the two units are already functioning.
Government officials have queried how Minister Mangoma appointed PetroTrade and the National Oil Infrastructure Company’s management and boards.
Minister Mangoma defended himself saying: “The minister has the final say…
“The culture at Noczim had been rotten and it was a culture I could not accept.”
NOOA claims to have strong regional and international linkages, despite having failed to deliver on the 48-hour promise.
According to online sources, the firm’s top brass includes a Zimbabwean, a former South African diplomat and other people from that country.
Online Reporter