Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
A ZVISHAVANE magistrate has set May 26 as the trial date for three Zvishavane town council senior staff who are facing corruption and abuse of office charges which allegedly prejudiced the local authority of more than US$2,7 million.
Town secretary Tinoda Mukutu and his co-accused housing director Nhlanhla Ngwenya and engineer Dominic Mapwashike are facing allegations of flouting tender procedures.
They allegedly awarded the same contract twice to a company that had allegedly failed to fulfil the terms of the first contract. The trio appeared before Zvishavane magistrate Ms Evia Matura last Thursday facing allegations of corruption and abuse of office charges.
In March, Mukutu, Ngwenya and Mapwashike had their application removed from remand, denied by Ms Matura. The matter will now be heard at the regional court in Gweru.
The trio was arrested in May 2021 and are out on $30 000 bail each and have been ordered to reside at their given addresses, not to interfere with witnesses as well as report to the police in Zvishavane every fortnight. They have also been asked to surrender their travel documents.
Allegations against the three accused are that sometime during the year 2016, Zvishavane Town Council entered into a partnership agreement with Monitor Enterprises trading as JM Construction, a land developing company, for the servicing of 27 central business district extension stands in Zvishavane valued at about US$2, 8 million.
JM Construction allegedly won the partnership agreement after competing in a tender process that was flighted by the town council.
However, the partnership agreement’s two-year time frame allegedly lapsed before JM Construction had completed the agreed works.
That eventually led to the termination of the partnership agreement by the town council. A notice of cancellation of the partnership agreement was served to JM Construction by the town council’s lawyers on October 1, 2018.
When the partnership agreement made between Zvishavane Town Council and JM Construction was terminated, the town council was supposed to start the tendering process afresh, which included flighting an advertisement in the local press inviting bids to continue with servicing of the stands.
On December 17, 2019, the accused persons allegedly acting in connivance and contrary to and inconsistent with their duties negotiated and hand-picked JM Construction again to continue with the contract.
They allegedly entered into another new agreement with new conditions for the continued servicing of the 27 stands with JM Construction without a council resolution and without going through the tender process. Ms Hilda Sibanda appeared for the State.
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