A confidential report showed that the Clerk of Parliament,
Kennedy Chokuda, authorised the tender to supply 173 laptops valued at US$9 200
each to Parliament.
“I take this chance to appreciate your effort for supply
and delivery of 173 laptops and 79 all-in-one desktops. The evaluation
committee was impressed by your documentation and how you presented your bid,”
the letter by Chokuda read.
The Finance ministry, however, cancelled the contract and
blacklisted the suppliers for inflating laptop prices “way beyond those that
are prevailing on the market”.
Chokuda on Saturday later issued a statement blaming
Parliament staffers for the “corrupt deal”, but did not say what measures would
be taken against the alleged culprits.
Addressing legislators, Mudenda said the officials
responsible for the questionable laptop deal should appear before PAC.
“In this particular incident, the chairperson of the PAC
has written to say that the responsible officials must appear before the PAC.
That process will proceed, and only after the interrogation by the PAC will
they decide whether there will be need for a forensic audit or not,” Mudenda
said.
“Also, it has to be taken into account what the
Auditor-General has said about the accounts of the committee since 2013. If
there are issues that were raised and they were not attended to, those can be
part of the interrogation by the PAC. So, in terms of procedure, we will
proceed that way.”
Efforts to get a comment from Chokuda were fruitless as he
was not answering his phone.
According to leaked official communication, Blinart
Investments P/L won the tender to supply Parliament with 173 laptops for a
total of US$1 602 755,77, translating to US$9 200 per gadget.
Another company, Mid-End Computers and Hardware, won a
tender to supply 79 desktop computers to Parliament, pricing its gadgets at
above US$3 000 for a single desktop.
Anti-corruption watchdogs and legislators on Tuesday called
for a forensic audit into Parliament’s procurement processes dating back to
2021.
“Transparency International Zimbabwe (TI-Z) urges the
Parliament of Zimbabwe to consider this as a form of financial misconduct in
line with section 85(1)(b) of the Public Finance Management Act. Proper disciplinary
procedures should, therefore, be followed consistent with Sections 87 and 88 of
the PFMA,’’ TI-Z said on Tuesday. Newsday
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