Nssa, constituted and established in terms of the Nssa Act
of 1989, is a statutory corporate body tasked by the government to provide
social security. It has an investment portfolio of US$1.2 billion in various
sectors of the economy.
As a result, it is seen as a cash cow by political and
corporate vultures, although pensioners get peanuts. Zanu PF factions and their
leaders always fight to control the fund as it gives them access to cheap
finance and business deals for self-aggrandisement, as well as opportunities to
build war chests for political battles.
Investigations by The NewsHawks show the property deal was
done secretly on behalf of Mavima.
Due process and board approvals to buy the Quinnington
house, Stand No. 218 Lot A1, amid fraudulent financial engineering for private
benefit by a Nssa executive, were not followed.
The house was valued at US$350 000, but US$400 000 was paid
by Nssa, creating room for US$50 000 to go into private pockets. The
transaction was executed through Platinum Investment Managers on 3 October
2022.
The issue came to light when Nssa deputy director audit
Andrew Nyakonda was tasked by Nssa’s acting general manager Charles Shava on 16
February to conduct an investigation into the disposal of the Borrowdale house
and the purchase of Kariba Lodge Stand No. 989 Kariba Township for US$244 000.
Although Nssa bought the house, it was not transferred to
its books before it was sold to Mavima. The minister initiated the deal as he
identified the property and asked Nssa to buy and keep it for him while he
awaited disbursement of his US$500 000 housing allowance given to each cabinet
minister. Deputy ministers got US$350 000 and MPs US$40 000.
Even the acting general manager, Shava, who is also the
director for occupational safety and health, was sidelined on the deal. Shava
is now dealing with the transaction and the knives are out for him, with some
pushing for his arrest this coming Monday in a desperate bid to pre-empt a
disciplinary hearing scheduled for Tuesday next week.
Shava replaced suspended general manager Arthur Manase who
was accused of corruption involving a US$750 000 housing loan. It was said
Manase got the loan, while he also received a US$2 500 monthly housing
allowance.
Mavima tried to remove Shava in January to put his own ally
Agnes Masiiwa as acting general manager under the guise of rotation, but
Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who was acting President at the time,
stopped the manoeuvre, saying it violated good corporate governance.
The underhand Borrowdale house deal comes as The NewsHawks
also unearthed another fraudulent transaction by Nssa involving a commercial
property in Kariba valued at US$220 000. The property was bought for US$215 000
after negotiations, but US$244 000 was paid. This means US$29 000 was siphoned.
The Quinnington house and the Kariba Lodge transactions
were driven by Nssa investments and properties director Brian Murewa, first
reported by The NewsHawks as having been suspended recently over the two deals.
Newshawks
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