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Prosper Dembedza
Herald Correspondent
The State has withdrawn charges for three Harare City Council officials who were facing allegations of awarding Juluka Endo Joint Venture a tender worth US$9 244 328 for street lights refurbishment without following proper procedures.
Never Murerwa (62), , Denford Zhungu (69) and Tawanda Mutenhabundo (29) were jointly charges with criminal abuse of office charges with Jabulani Mukomazi (44).
The State withdrew charges against Murerwa, Chisango and Mutenhabundo before indicting Mukomazi to the High Court .
They appeared before Harare magistrate, Mrs Marehwanazvo Gofa.
Murerwa is the supply chain manager while Zhungu is a principal accountant. Mutenhabundo is an engineering technician while Mukomazi is a principal buyer in the City of Harare’s procurement unit.
The four were members of the tender evaluation committee when the crime was allegedly committed.
Juluka Endo Joint Venture is owned by businessman Moses Mpofu, who, along with business associate Mike Chimombe, is in remand prison on fraud allegations.
It is the State’s case that in January last year, the City of Harare embarked on the rehabilitation of street lights.
The court heard that 11 companies responded to the tender invitation for the project but Juluka did not meet the tender requirements.
However, the accused persons went on to unlawfully award the tender of the remaining lots to Juluka Endo Joint Venture, disregarding the general procurement provisions which required the process to be done through a competitive bidding process.
The State further alleged that the accused persons disregarded an earlier decision to disqualify Juluka as it had failed to meet the bid requirements.
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