A FIERCE row has erupted between the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) and the Special Anti-Corruption Unit (Sacu) over the manner in which investigations are being handled, relating to allegations of how Health deputy minister John Mangwiro unprocedurally awarded a US$6 million tender to Young Health Care.
The Zimbabwe Independent can reveal that President Emmerson
Mnangagwa has thrown his full weight behind the ongoing probe through Sacu,
which has exerted pressure on Zacc to swiftly finalise a docket against
Mangwiro.
Sacu is housed in Mnangagwa’s office. At the heart of the
probe, which can potentially claim Mangwiro’s scalp, is dissonance between the
anti-graft bodies over the perceived selective application of justice, nearly
five months after former Health minister Obadiah Moyo was arrested and
subsequently booted from government on similar charges.
Moyo, who is due to stand trial on January 11, is facing
allegations of influencing Natpharm to illegally award a US$60 million tender
for the procurement of Covid-19 consumables to Drax International.
This week, Mangwiro, who doubles up as Vice-President
Constantino Chiwenga’s personal physician, was summoned by Zacc and a warned
and cautioned statement was recorded from him, reportedly at the instigation of
Sacu.
Sources close to the high-profile probe this week said Zacc
sprang to action to finalise Mangwiro’s docket under pressure from Mnangagwa’s
office.
The charges facing Mangwiro and Moyo, associated with their
conduct at the Health ministry, cast light on the widening fissures between
Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, with competing strategies on tackling corruption being
used by the strongmen as a new frontier to gain control over the levers of
state power.
Zacc spokesperson John Makamure told this newspaper that
Mangwiro had been summoned, with the full support of Mnangagwa, who has allowed
the body to act independently.
He said: “We are investigating the case. Just yesterday
(Tuesday) the deputy minister was summoned by Zacc for a warned and cautioned
statement.
“Zacc operations are independent. No one has the capacity
to influence Zacc operations. We have received maximum support from President
Mnangagwa.”
However, sources close to the high-profile probe told this
newspaper that there was “reasonable suspicion swaying public opinion” that the
“system was being sympathetic” to Mangwiro, “in comparison to how the wheels of
justice rolled” when allegations of a similar nature arose against his former
boss, Moyo.
“There is reasonable suspicion that the system is being
manipulated and general fear that there is selective application of the law
relating to how Mangwiro’s investigations are being handled.
“The investigations must be placed in the context of Moyo,
who faced similar allegations. He (Moyo) was detained at Rhodesville Police
station, arraigned in court and expelled from government,” a source at the
Health ministry told the Independent.
However, Makamure downplayed murmurs that Zacc was being
used as a pawn to selectively tackle corruption, while highlighting that the
body was in the process of finalising Mangwiro’s docket, after which it would
be furnished to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
“We recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with Parliament. Support from the legislative branch is overwhelming,” he told
the Independent this week.
“Zacc is handling the investigations as per its mandate.
Once the docket is ready it will be submitted to the National Prosecuting
Authority (NPA) for prosecution as per the procedure.”
However, sources in government say there were suggestions
from the investigating and prosecuting authorities to proceed by way of
summons, raising questions of why Mangwiro’s case was being handled differently
and why he had not been suspended to allow for investigations and ensure that
there was no interference with witnesses and manipulation of evidence.
When allegations of Mangwiro’s role in awarding the US$6
million tender to Young Health Care surfaced, Presidential spokesperson George
Charamba dismissed the charges as “sponsored.”
Writing on microblogging site Twitter, Charamba said: “Why
does this story look sponsored? There is an unspoken urge to outrun legal
inquiries and processes to agitate for punishment over an alleged crime still
to be proven in a court of law! Some hope to stampede due processes, both
administrative and legal! Who is behind this?”
Sacu boss Thabani Mpofu said Mangwiro’s investigations were
being handled by Zacc. “The case of deputy minister Mangwiro is being handled
by Zacc. We are not involved,” he said.
Following Moyo’s sacking from government, a number of
senior executives at Natpharm were fired from their posts for allegedly
colluding with the former cabinet minister to misappropriate public funds.
In the aftermath of Moyo’s expulsion from government, whose
cause Mnangagwa cited as “conduct inappropriate for a cabinet minister”, seven
directors were fired, while a dozen others were sent on indefinite paid leave.
As revealed by the Independent in its series of
investigations around the misappropriation of funds at the Health ministry on
October 16 that Mnangagwa’s government has been spending millions of dollars
per month on double salaries and allowances for the senior officials sent on
paid leave.
The senior officials were sent on paid leave as part of a
restructuring exercise that Chiwenga is overseeing at the ministry.
With Chiwenga now at the helm of the influential cabinet
portfolio, allegations against Mangwiro rose from a Zacc dossier seen by this
newspaper revealing how the deputy minister potentially violated public
procurement procedures by allegedly directing Natpharm acting general manager
and its adjudicating committee to award an undeserving entity Young Health Care
the US$6 million contract.
At the heart of the Zacc dossier, Mangwiro is alleged to
have instructed Natpharm to award Young Health Care the lucrative tender,
despite failing to satisfy procurement requirements.
“Procurement process of the tender 04/2020 was marred by
directives from the deputy minister Mangwiro, resulting in delaying of the
procurement. A letter from the then Acting Secretary of Health Dr Mhlanga dated
15 July 2020, instructing Natpharm to make direct procurement of supplies from
Young Health Care was issued when the company was not registered with
Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz),” the Zacc dossier seen by
this newspaper reads.
“When Natpharm insisted on competitive bidding, the tender
process had to be postponed to allow Young Health Care Limited to be registered
with Praz. This delayed the procurement of Covid-19 materials. The deputy
minister reportedly issued numerous directives to the Natpharm management
throughout the tender process.” Zimbabwe Independent
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