ZIMSTAT Director General, Taguma Mahonde, To Appear In Court
Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) director general, Taguma Mahonde, is set to appear in court this Thursday, 28 September, following his arrest on fraud allegations.
Mahonde was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) over allegations of flouting tender procedures in the disposal of official vehicles, and fraud involving the claiming of school fees for his children.
ZACC spokesperson, Thandiwe Mlobane, on Wednesday, told The Herald that they are still conducting investigations. She said:
I confirm that ZACC arrested the director general of ZimStat yesterday, 26 September 2023, in connection with the fraudulent claim of school fees for his children.
Further investigations are continuing in relation to flouting tender procedures.
Mlobane said Mahonde brought a board resolution to ZACC that was made last week appearing to be authorising him to claim school fees, but in reality, the recent resolution differed from an initial resolution made last year. She said:
The accused brought a resolution done last week by the board after realising that ZACC had completed investigations on the issue, authorising accused to claim the amounts he claimed since 2021 when he started the fraudulent claims.
This is despite the fact that they had made a resolution in 2022 on the issue of school fees for the accused’s children. He will be appearing in court tomorrow, 28 September 2023.
The Herald reported sources as saying Mahonde allegedly claimed money as school fees allowances for his children but has failed to provide receipts or invoices from the schools to show that the claims were legitimate.
He also allegedly acquired top-of-the-range service vehicles for a pittance which had the effect of prejudicing the State of revenue.
Mahonde allegedly bought two vehicles before the expiry of five years which is a violation of the principles governing senior officials’ acquisition of vehicles.
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