Two Finance officials charged with corruptly procuring goods

from a principal.
Petronella Angeline Chishawa (28), a principal economist and Linda Kembo (48) a registry supervisor are accused of corruptly procuring goods for use by the ministry by including their own merchandise on the goods supplied. The pair, which was represented by Mr David Hofisi and Mr Tererai Gunje respectively was not formally charged with corruptly concealing from a principal a personal interest in a transaction when it appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Shane Kubonera.

Mr Kubonera remanded them out of custody to July 25 this year on US$200 bail each and ordered them to surrender their passports to the clerk of court. They were also ordered to report once a week at CID Serous Frauds. Prosecutor Mrs Svodai Kadivirire alleges that between March 1 and 7 the two who are agents of the Finance Ministry were tasked by the ministry to source for clothing items for 31 ushers to be deployed at an investment conference.

It is alleged that the two hatched a plan to corruptly deceive their principal (Ministry of Finance) by not disclosing their personal interest in the procurement transaction.
On March 1 the pair, it is alleged, went to Mick Davies, a clothing shop owned by Clothing and Uniforms (Pvt) Ltd situated at CABS Centre in the city centre.

They allegedly requested for a quotation from the shop management – Sekai Manyepwa and Lovejoy Kaungwa – and they were informed that only a few of the required items were in stock.
The State says the two informed the shop managers that they were bringing their own clothing items to the shop and the shop would in turn include the out sourced items on their invoice to the ministry.

Chishawa and Kembo, it is alleged, brou-ght the clothing items valued at US$4 728 which were supplied to the ministry and included on the US$9 848 invoice raised by the shop.
Chishawa and Kembo are said to have supplied the stocks in the form of 26 shirts, 13 pairs of shoes, 20 pairs ladies shoes, 40 ladies blouses, 40 roll-ons, 10 men’s shirts, five pairs men’s shoes and five men’s roll-ons within a week. The Ministry paid the US$9 848 to Mick Davies of which US$4 728 was collected by the pair on the same day, it is alleged. It is the State’s contention that when the pair made the transaction they did not disclose to their principal that they were including their own merchandise on the goods supplied.