Mupfumira off the hook

Nyore Madzianike

Prisca Mupfumira was yesterday cleared of corruption charges relating to a low-income housing project in Gweru.

Mupfumira, who previously served as Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, was accused of abusing her office by hand-picking Drawcard Enterprises to undertake the Mzenya housing project without going to tender.

The project was spearheaded by the National Social Security Authority (NSSA).

Harare regional magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna, who was recently appointed High Court judge, acquitted Mupfumira.

The court found that the prosecution had failed to demonstrate corrupt intent on Mupfumira’s part or establish a connection between her and Drawcard Enterprises that would have motivated her to influence the contract award.

“There is no evidence that the accused, soon after or before, ever received a consideration from Drawcard,” said Mr Nduna.

He said it was difficult to convict her in the absence of minutes of meetings where she was recorded exerting undue influence to facilitate the selection of Drawcard.

The court cited NSSA’s legal secretary, who was there at the time, for failing to competently advise the authority’s board on the tender’s legal requirements.

He, therefore, concluded that NSSA proceeded to award the tender to Drawcard of its own volition.

“The only conclusion to be arrived at is that NSSA did not go to tender because they resolved not to do so,” he said.

“Accused was not part of the deliberations where that resolution was arrived at.

“If ever . . . it is the legal advisers in NSSA who should be held liable for not properly advising the board on legal issues.

“They let the board subvert a statutory provision, and persons who could have erred, in the face of clear evidence, they were lined as witnesses against the accused.

“Accused’s version that she never participated in the identification of Drawcard sounds highly probable.

“Her cry that she may have been a mere victim is not far-fetched.

“The court comes to this conclusion because there is all the evidence, in black and white, that the NSSA board proceeded on its own resolution in the execution of the Mzenya project, but the State persisted with her prosecution,” he said.

Mr Whisper Mabhaudi and Mr Lovet Masuku appeared for the State, while Mupfumira was represented by Mr Admire Rubaya.