More bosses from the ministry were expected to be grilled
by Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) officials in the coming weeks in
a probe that could further expose serious governance deficiencies in government
after looters forced Treasury to halt payments to contractors last year.
The probe is likely to net bigwigs in the Ministry of Local
Government and Public Works along with bosses at two of Zimbabwe’s leading real
estate agencies, which made valuations of the affected properties, sources
disclosed.
The Independent could not establish the extent of the
fraud, which sources claimed involved manipulating figures to inflate the value
of properties, which would end with property owners and corrupt officials
sharing hefty looted funds.
However, it was estimated last year that up to US$35
million would be paid out to about 130 affected companies and residential
properties to help them to relocate and
restart elsewhere.
Some officials claimed that of this figure, US$12 million
could have been paid out to 52 affected individuals and businesses by the end
of 2023.
The Independent could not establish if the figures were
correct.
By last night, Transport and Infrastructural Development
Minister, Felix Mhona had not responded to questions sent to his office on
Tuesday.
The US$88 million interchange, which lies at the heart of
southern Africa’s busiest transportation corridors, was a crucial part of
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP),
which was meant to give a complete makeover to crumbling roads and bridges
countrywide.
Thandiwe Mlobane, spokesperson at Zacc, confirmed that the
probe was underway, but she was not at liberty to disclose full details.
“The investigations are still in their early stages.
Commenting now may be prejudicial to the investigations,” Mlobane told the
Independent.
However, authoritative sources said reports of pillage
exploded through anonymous letters during top level power struggles in the
Ministry of Transport.
“Zacc summoned some directors amid allegations that some
owners of properties at the Mbudzi Interchange had their properties
overvalued,” one of the sources said.
“The memorandum (containing overvalued properties) was
reportedly signed by (a senior official in the ministry whose name was given to
the Independent).”
This week, the official, who has been reassigned to another
ministry, denied the allegations.
“Zacc is in the process of conducting interviews with
different officials from the Ministry of Transport. Some officials based at
Compensation House have also been interviewed. It is a hot topic within
government,” the source added.
The Mbudzi Interchange project is being executed by a joint
venture called Tefoma, after the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed Masimba
Holdings combined efforts with two other domestic construction firms – Fossil
and Tensor — to pool resources and skills and build the mega facility.
The consortium clinched the deal in 2021, and the US$88
million project will be funded through a vendor financing model, with a loan
from Fossil already gazetted.
Initially, contractors had planned to complete the project
by early next year, but are now behind schedule.
When complete, the interchange will have 13 bridges and 15
kilometres of interchange and service outlets.
In August 2022, the government directed all ministries,
departments and agencies (MDAs) to suspended payments to service providers as
part of efforts to halt a slump in the local currency which was fuelling
hyperinflation.
Finance and Economic Development permanent secretary George
Guvamatanga issued the directive after the Treasury had noticed that some of
the contractors were submitting invoices of cash for goods and services using
parallel market rates.
The MDAs were required to seek approval from Treasury for
current and future contract pricing and share with it their due diligence on
existing charges.
During the same period, the then Presidential Affairs and
Monitoring Implementation of Government Programmes minister Jorum Gumbo said
contractors were facing delays in payments as a result of the due diligence,
which the government was now carrying out after some of them were found to be
inflating prices.
However, the directive threatened many of the service
providers, who ran into cash flow problems.
In September, the Independent revealed that contractors
undertaking the massive public infrastructure revamp countrywide had threatened
to pull out after accumulating an estimated ‘US$150 million’ in unpaid
invoices.
Authorities rolled out the huge programme to completely
makeover or rehabilitate the country’s deteriorating infrastructure after
President Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed power in 2017.
The ERRP, which saw government completely resurface the 582
kilometre Harare – Masvingo – Beitbridge highway, was among flagships of the
poorly funded but vital programme. Zimbabwe Independent
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