FIRST lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s business partners, among them a ruling Zanu PF senator, are on the list of people meant to benefit from a $600 million (US$25 million) fund to cushion vulnerable populations against the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Standard, working in collaboration with Information for
Development Trust, a non-profit organisation supporting journalists to report
on bad governance and corruption, made the discovery during an investigation
into how the fund was being managed.
The government established the fund after decreeing a
lockdown in late March 2020, to benefit small-scale traders and other
vulnerable groups whose incomes would be affected by the restricted movements
and closure of businesses.
Thousands apply, hundreds enter Investigations have
established that, in the sprawling Kwekwe district — President Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s home town in the Midlands province — some 6 000 aspiring
beneficiaries applied when the fund was announced, but the local office of the
Social Welfare ministry that was co-ordinating the applications ended up with
just under 500.
No disbursements of the fund have been made in Kwekwe yet
because the initial tranche disbursed by government has been exhausted.
The final list was submitted to the social welfare
department by a group of businesspeople, most of whom are linked to Zanu PF,
largely at the exclusion of ward heads or councillors, who were supposed to be
part of the process, it was established.
Elliot Mudumo, the head of the Kwekwe district social
welfare office, declined to comment on the scam and referred all questions to the
Information ministry.
Kwekwe, just like other parts of the country, has a
bustling informal sector due to the high unemployment rate caused by the
closure or downsizing of companies such as Ziscosteel, Lancashire Steel and
Sable Chemicals.
In the early days of the lockdown, sources in Kwekwe
claimed, there was a widespread belief that the fund would present an
opportunity for well-connected people to milk government coffers through false
claims.
But the per capita disbursements turned out to be a paltry
$200, translating to less than US$10 per month for each individual on the
average March 2020 official bank rate.
Available documents show that Perseverance Zhou, the ruling
Zanu PF proportional representation lawmaker for the Kwekwe constituency, was
on the list.
Senator Zhou is listed with her national identity number
(58-045574L48) and her NetOne mobile line, which she meant to use to receive
the cash transfers.
The lawmaker is also a gold miner and enjoys parliamentary
benefits like sitting allowances, a monthly salary, a luxurious vehicle and
fuel coupons.
Zhou holds shares in a company — PPAC Investments Private
Limited — that is jointly owned by Mnangagwa’s wife Auxillia and two other
well-known businesswomen, Pinky Sibanda and Cynthia Kangoli, according to
information obtained from the Deeds Office.
PPAC is a combination of the first letters of the names of
the four directors, with “P” standing for Perseverance (Senator Zhou), the
other “P” for Pinky (Sibanda), “A” for Auxillia (Mnangagwa) and “C” for Cynthia
(Kangoli).
On the company registration form (CR 14), the first lady is
listed as Auxillia Kutyauripo, which is her maiden surname, but the physical
address is kept as Precabe Farm, the first family’s property in Sherwood just
outside Kwekwe.
It was not immediately clear why she used her maiden name
and avoided the Mnangagwa family one.
PPAC Investments was registered on November 21, 2013 on
registration number 8904/2 while the firm banks with ZB Bank Kwekwe branch
through an account number.
The three business partners are considered wealthy and the
company that they jointly run with the president’s wife owns Kwekwe
Recreational Park in addition to other thriving businesses in the Midlands.
On her own admission, Zhou has always been aware of her
inclusion on the list, but did not intervene to get it removed despite her not
qualifying.
Zhou, though, insisted that it was not her fault that she
was listed among beneficiaries of the Covid-19 fund.
“I belong to several organisations, so I am sure one of
them submitted my name during the first 21 days of the lockdown when the call
was made,” she said.
“I am also aware that there are other undeserving people
(on the list) like teachers, but honestly, in my case, the fault falls on those
who submitted the names. I am into associations of women, so I think when they
submitted their lists, they just included me since I am a member. I am hoping
to go and correct the anomaly,” added Zhou.
Also on the list is Sarudzai Tuhwe, the Zanu PF chairperson
for Mbizo 9, and Aliness Muganho, a ruling party member who works at Kwekwe
General Hospital’s cleaning unit.
Veterans of the war of liberation, who have no known
history as small-scale traders are on the list and include Erasmus Muzenda,
Linda Nyevera, Partison Mafute and Ruth Mirrian Nhari — an ex-police inspector.
Fully-employed teachers on the list include Lorini Gwazani,
who works at Russell Primary School, Joye Gunda and a deputy school head,
Catherine Masvingise, who teaches at Tasungana Primary School in Kwekwe.
“The official list, which was presented by our representatives
was thrown away by senior Zanu PF officials who wanted party loyalists to
benefit from the money,” said a well-known female informal trader, who refused
to be named.
The Member of Parliament for Mbizo, Settlement Chikwinya
from the opposition MDC Alliance, agreed with the informal trader.
“Zanu PF clearly abused the scheme to benefit undeserving
members of their party at the expense of genuine cases, which required
assistance under the Covid-19 social welfare fund. MDC Alliance councillors
submitted names, but they were never considered,” said Chikwinya.
But the ruling party refuted accusations of manipulating
the selection process. The Zanu PF provincial spokesperson, Cornelius Mupereri,
blamed the bungling on opposition councillors, who dominate the Kwekwe urban
council.
“Allegations that Zanu PF hijacked the process of selecting
vulnerable traders are false and baseless. The process was being handled by
councillors who are, in fact, from the opposition. They were working with
officials from the social welfare department and we weren’t involved as a
party,” said Mupereri.
The Kwekwe-based Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa
(ACT-SA) said it would soon make a court application to stop the use of the
“polluted list” of prospective beneficiaries and the involvement of political
parties in selecting beneficiaries.
Sten Zvorwadza, the National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe
(NAVUZ) chairperson, said his organisation had submitted names to the
government but none had been considered.
“The National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe shared the list of
some of our Kwekwe members with the ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises,
but nothing happened and, to date, none of them got considered for the
payments,” he said.
The Kwekwe district co-ordinator, Fortune Mpungu, said that,
while he had not received formal complaints regarding the disputed list, his
office would launch a verification exercise to identify anomalies if requested
to do so.
Small to Medium Enterprises minister Sithembiso Nyoni
seemed to blame her counterparts at the Social Welfare ministry for bungling in
the vetting process.
“Our job was to encourage the vulnerable vendors to
register their names with their associations before submitting to us. We then
submitted the names to the ministry of Social Welfare. They are the ones who
did the vetting and they know how they vetted the (vendors),” she said.
Social Welfare minister Paul Mavima took the blame for the
manipulated selections and admitted that his department was supposed to do the
vetting of applicants.
“It’s my ministry, which was supposed to do the vetting. We
have to go back and see what exactly happened and, if undeserving people got
the money, they must reimburse it. Why would a teacher, for instance, want to
be on a list of vendors? That’s the height of dishonesty,” said Mavima.
He added that Zhou was not supposed to be on the list of
prospective beneficiaries.
“Why would a senator or MP be on that list?” he queried.
Standard
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