A WOMAN employed as a general hand at the Registrar-General’s Central Registry Headquarters in Harare was arrested last week after allegedly receiving a bribe from a desperate passport applicant.
She reportedly promised to facilitate the expeditious
processing of the document but, however, failed to deliver.
Detectives from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission
(ZACC) pounced on Gloria Mashanda (30) of Warren Park following the botched
cash-for-passport deal with Tofara Mapundu, a Namibia-based Zimbabwean.
In a statement, ZACC spokesperson Commissioner John
Makamure said Mashanda failed to deliver on her undertaking, after which the
matter was reported to the authorities. “Sometime in March 2021, the
complainant was approached by Tofara Mapundu, a female Zimbabwean who is based
in Namibia, to assist her in applying for a Zimbabwean passport,” said Comm
Makamure.
“She gave her the passport application form that had
already been filled in with her personal details to submit to passport offices
at Makombe Complex, Harare, on her behalf.”
Mashanda charged Mapundu a substantial amount of money
which was delivered through an emissary.
“The complainant gave the accused US$318 for passport
application and US$110 as the facilitation fee, which is a combined total of
US$428, and the passport application form in the name of Tofara Mapundu for
passport processing.”
The accused promised that Mapundu’s passport would be
processed and ready for collection in a fortnight from the date the accused was
given the application form.
After the agreed two-week period lapsed before the passport
was delivered, Mashanda started evading the complainant.
“After the expiry of the agreed two-week period, the
complainant started making enquiries for Tofara Mapundu’s passport from the
accused, but the accused started to be evasive.
“The complainant approached Makombe Complex passport
offices to verify whether Mashanda had submitted the application, only to be
told that there was no record of her application.
“The accused did not facilitate the passport application in
the name of Tofara Mapundu but converted US$428 she was given by the
complainant to her own use,” added Comm Makamure.
Mashanda appeared in court yesterday and was remanded in
custody to May 10. Sunday Mail
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