Parliament Summons ZEC Over Alleged Multi-Million Dollar Tender Scandal

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has summoned the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for questioning later this week over an alleged multi-million dollar tender involving convicted criminal and President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s associate Wicknell Chivayo, reported NewsDay.

Chalton Hwende, the chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, confirmed inviting ZEC to the National Assembly on Friday, July 5, adding that the meeting would be open to the public. He wrote on X:

This week, as we continue with our oversight role @ZECzim will appear before the Public Accounts Committee on Friday 5 July at 10 AM at the Parliament of Zimbabwe. This meeting is open to the public and the media.

A leaked recording of a conversation between Chivayo and his former business partners Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe suggests that the trio was involved in a deal with a South African company, Ren-Form CC, worth over US$40 million, for the supply of election material to ZEC ahead of the 23 August 2023 general elections.

Acting as agents on ZEC’s behalf, the three allegedly inflated invoices but later fell out over a disagreement on the sharing of the loot.

Chimombe is a ZANU PF central committee member and president of the Economic Empowerment Group which is aligned with the ruling party.

ZEC recently issued a statement refuting any involvement with Chivayo and his former associates in procuring election materials, asserting that all their procurement processes were conducted transparently.

However, leaked Treasury documents, including invoices, reveal that Ren-Form CC had engaged Betterbrands, owned by ZANU PF legislator Pedzisayi “Scott” Sakupwanya, which subsequently partnered with Chivayo and his associates.

Mpofu and Chimombe have accused Chivayo of unlawfully altering their contract with Ren-Form and Betterbrands for supplying election materials to ZEC, allegedly profiting from corruption alone in the process.

Reports are indicating that some of these electoral materials have yet to be delivered, despite payments being made by the Treasury.

Last week in the Senate, CCC Senator Sengezo Tshabangu raised concerns about why the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion settled invoices for portable toilets and translucent light boxes that were never received. Said Tshabangu:

There is an allegation that ZEC, which is a product of Chapter 12 of our Constitution, engaged a South African company to deliver materials for the 2023 elections, but the company has not delivered the materials to date.

The invoice which amounts to US$9 million was authorised by the Ministry of Finance after the elections.

My question is: why did the Ministry of Finance settle the full invoice amounting to over US$9 million, which went through its banker CBZ on September 7, 2023, for the procurement of portable toilets, V11 forms and translucent light boxes that were never delivered?

Senate Deputy President Mike Nyambuya advised Tshabangu to formalize the query in writing.

He also directed the question to Justice, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Deputy Minister Nobert Mazungunye, who requested additional time to thoroughly investigate and verify the allegations before responding. Said Mazungunye:

As far as I am concerned, I feel that question is a specific one which might require time to go back and research more on it and maybe if we do our findings, then we can properly respond to that matter.

At the moment, there are still allegations which are not substantiated as has been said already but we may need to go and verify again.

Meanwhile, Chimombe and Chivayo are currently held in remand prison following their arrest on charges related to defrauding the government in an $88 million Presidential Goat Pass-on scheme.

On June 24, Mpofu and Mike Chimombe, accompanied by their legal representatives, voluntarily presented themselves to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) to cooperate with investigations into the alleged ZEC tender scandal.

However, they left the ZACC offices without being interviewed. According to reports, the investigating officer, Henry Chapwanya, indicated he was occupied with another case and would schedule interviews when available.

Critics argue that the arrests of Mpofu and Chimombe concerning the goat scheme are a diversion aimed at shielding Chivayo and the high-ranking government officials allegedly implicated in the ZEC deal.

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