Godfrey Gandawa
| Dr. Godfrey Gandawa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Godfrey Gandawa |
| Nationality | Zimbabwe |
| Education | University of Zimbabwe |
| Alma mater | Stellenbosch University, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Owning Fuzzy Technologies |
Dr. Godfrey Gandawa is the former Deputy Minister at Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology Development in the government of Zimbabwe during the late President Robert Mugabe's rule. He is also an entrepreneur and owner of Fuzzy Technologies a Zimbabwean company that supplies technology equipment and services.
In October 2016 Gandawa was investigated for corruption by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) in cases involving the abuse of Zimdef funds. The allegations were that Gandawa's company Fuzzy Technologies was awarded tenders un-procedurally by the Gandawa's ministry.
Personal Details
No information was found on his age, place of birth, or family.
School / Education
No information was found on his Junior or High School, or any tertiary education.
Service / Career
In the 2013 Elections, (see A History of Zimbabwean Elections) Magunje returned to Parliament:
- Godfrey Gandawa of Zanu PF with 9 473 votes or 69.97 percent,
- Tawanda Magunje of MDC–T with 3 000 votes or 22.16 percent,
- Tonderayi Kusemamuriwo, Independent, with 569 votes or 420 percent,
- Godfrey Kadenhe of MDC–N with 497 votes or 3.67 percent,
Total 13 539 votes
Events
Corruption Allegations
It was alleged that $95 800 was transferred from Zimdef to Wishbone Trading through CABS. Dr Gandawa received $20 000 through his personal Barclays account after which he transferred $19 030 to HIB Rajput PL T/A Ace Cycles. Dr Gandawa then transferred $27 550 to S.K.M Motorcycles for 10 tricycles for Prof Jonathan Moyo and the balance was withdrawn in cash. Furthermore reports indicated that $107 525 was transferred from Zimdef to Fuzzy Technologies’ NMB Bank account, of which $5 745 was transferred to Pridham Investments for Dr Gandawa’s personal furniture. Dr Gandawa is also believed to have paid for 69 bicycles worth $7 260 for Prof Jonathan Moyo and transferred $12 900 to Wishbone Trading as capital to finance his personal business and the remainder was withdrawn in cash.
There were documents produced to further show ZACC is investigating a separate case in which Prof Moyo and Dr Gandawa are suspected of getting Zimdef to release 100 000 litres of diesel worth $118 500, fuel which was then diverted to the black market.
It is alleged that fuel was requested by the Zimbabwe Youth Council on 26 July for a “skills gap assessment programme”. Dr Gandawa is believed to have recommended the allocation and Prof Moyo gave his approval on 4 August 2016.
Prof Jonathan Moyo, Dr Gandawa, Mr Mandizvidza and Mr Mapute could have unlawfully benefited from $430 000 of the State enterprise’s money between November 2015 and June 2016, documents show. ZACC investigated other alleged abuses of Zimdef funds by Prof Moyo, his deputy, and three subordinates.[1]
Here are some of the pages in a document showing the corruption counts that was compiled by ZACC.
Arrest
The deputy minister Gandawa together with Proff Jonathan Moyo were allegedly arrested after suspicions of misuse of state funds was raised.It was reported that Gandawa handed himself into custody in the presence of his lawyer Benard Chidziva and went under 5 hours of thorough questioning. The deputy minister’s arrest came just a day after Higher Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo appeared before ZACC. He was also released into the custody of his lawyer, Mr Terence Hussein. [1]
Unconstitutional Arrest
Following his arrest a Magistrate Court ruled out that his arrest was not constitutional and unlawfull. Also the documents presented were not accepted as the search warrants were deemed unlawfull too. It was reported that the court ruled that ZACC had no arresting powers and Gandawa obtained permission to proceed to the Constitutional Court. In a letter to the ConCourt, Gandawa’s lawyers, Kantor and Immerman, said the state had failed to comply and should be barred from filing the heads of argument.
“On 16 June 2017, we appeared before the Honourable Chief Justice in an application for upliftment of bar. After hearing arguments, the chief justice granted the application and directed the state to file and serve its heads of arguments within 10 days of the court order,” part of the letter read.
“The 10 day period lapsed on June 30, 2017. The state failed to file and serve us with heads of argument, therefore, the state is bared.”
In his respondent’s heads of arguments, Gandawa, who is charged with several offences that include criminal abuse of office, fraud, corruptly concealing a personal interest from principle and obstructing course of justice, questioned ZACC’s arresting powers. [1]
His Hiding
During the run-up to the 30 July 2018 elections, Gandawa, went into hiding after receiving information that state agents were after him. In an exclusive interview from an undisclosed location, Gandawa said he had to sleep in the mountains after he was tipped off that his Magunje homestead would be raided a few days before the 30 July elections. Gandawa, who contested the Magunje seat as an independent candidate, said he had no option but to flee after receiving information that there were people out to harm him.
‘‘I got a tip-off from one of the Military Intelligence Department (MID) operatives who was part of the team assigned to assassinate me. My source told me not to sleep at home that day since there were five men from state security who were going to kill me between 1am and 2am,” he said. He said he then decided to hide in the nearby mountain where he could see whatever happened at his homestead. [2]
