Online Reporter
Zvikomborero Parafini
The anti-corruption case involving Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency board chairperson Naomi Wekwete finally opened in the capital yesterday.
Wekwete pleaded not guilty to the offence before Harare regional magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa.
Allegations are that Wekwete is a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and had a student-lecturer relationship with one Aluwiso Mukavhi
The two also interacted in 2016 during a UNFPA survey when Mukavhi was doing the data sampling and Wekwete was superintending data collection.
When Mukavhi applied for the Director Post at ZIMSTAT he placed Wekwete as a reference on his Curriculum Vitae.Prosecutors alleged that in 2018, Mukavhi was appointed the Director Population Census and Surveys after going through the interview process at ZIMSTAT.
After his elevation to the said post, some allegations of cheating through receiving interview questions before the actual interview was conducted were raised.
The court heard that Mukavhi heard through grapevine that he was being accused of cheating, resultantly he wrote a letter to the then Director General ZIMSTAT Taguma Honde requesting to be downgraded to a Deputy Director Post citing ill health.
The Director General then referred the matter to Human Resources and Governance Committee for deliberations.
On February 11 2022, the Human Resources and Governance committee convened a meeting to deliberate the issue regarding Mukavhi’s request. Wekwete attended the said meeting which was not supposed to be the case since she is the Board Chairperson of ZIMSTAT and was supposed to attend Board meetings. The matter was ultimately to be referred to the Board for further deliberations.
Wekwete is alleged to have influenced the committee to refer the matter to the Board for further investigations well knowing that she is the Board Chairperson and that she knew Mukavhi through numerous activities outside ZIMSTAT which include the University of Zimbabwe where she was a lecturer and during the UNFPA survey which they conducted together in 2016.
On February 25 2022, a board meeting was convened at ZimStat and issues discussed included Mukavhi’s letter of downgrading, cheating and incompetence.
Wekwete attended the meeting instead of recusing herself since she is known to Mukavhi.
It was resolved that the issue of cheating had no evidence to support it.
It is the State’s case that Wekwete acted contrary to or inconsistent with her duties as a public officer by unlawfully attending and influencing the outcome of a meeting by the Human Resources and Governance Committee which she was not supposed to attend by virtue of her being the Chairperson of the ZIMSTAT Board.
She allegedly further failed to declare her interest during the two meetings since she knew Makavhi outside ZIMSTAT business.
In denying the allegations, Wekwete who was represented by Harare lawyer Dumisani Mthombeni told the court that at all times she acted professionally, performed her official duties diligently, in accordance with her mandate and at all times in full consultation with her other committee and board members.
She denied ever abusing her authority, forcing/imposing her will or influencing anyone to make a decision or pass a resolution favourable to Mukavhi or anyone as she had no personal, direct, indirect or pecuniary interest in any of the issues that were tabled before both the Human Resources and Governance committee and the ZIMSTAT board; including the request by Aluwisa Mukavhi for downgrading.
Wekwete denied ever being conflicted in any way as she stood to benefit nothing from the decisions and resolution passed at all times.
She denied ever conniving with Aluwisa Mukavhi or with any other person to commit the said offence or any other imaginary offence and challenged the state to prove how, when and where she so connived with Mukavhi and more so what she stood to benefit or allegedly benefited (if at all ).
