Category: zimbabwe

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday mourned journalist Zororo Makamba who became the first Zimbabwean to succumb to [...]

Source: Town clerk buys laptop, mobile phone for $150k | Newsday (News)

BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE

SUSPENDED Gweru town clerk Elizabeth Gwatipedza is in the eye of a storm after an audit showed that she bought herself a mobile phone and a laptop for $150 000 using council funds.

Gwatipedza was suspended last year and is also facing disciplinary action over several allegations of criminal abuse of office.

According to the audit, in September 2019, she bought a latest premium laptop with its operating system for $107 200 and a Huawei mobile phone valued at $42 000 using the council’s funds despite having bought another state-of-the-art laptop the previous year.

Gwatipedza allegedly acquired the items without the advice of the acting procurement manager, one Muumbe, who was reportedly well-versed with procurement regulations.

The audit also showed that Gwatipedza inflated the figures on the procurement of 5 000-litre and 10 000-litre water tanks.

It is alleged that she facilitated the procurement of a 5 000-litre water tank for $52 000 and a
10 000-litre one for $230 575, a difference of $180 000.

Gwatipedza is accused of violating the procurement procedures through direct procurement instead of inviting bids.

According to the audit, the acting procurement manager Muumbe allegedly accepted a letter seeking a top-up of $6 320 to pay for a suspicious company which had been paid earlier with the documents not dated.

It is alleged the finance department proceeded to make the payment without questioning the identity of that company.

Gwatipedza is also accused of purchasing 18 000 litres of diesel from PetroTrade for $131 350 on July 18 last year and PetroTrade delivered only 4 965 litres as at August 18, 2019 due to the shortage of trucks to carry the fuel.

It is alleged the council was taxed by PetroTrade on the price variation of the commodity and the council ended up losing $221 188 for the uncollected diesel.

Gwatipedza is also accused of buying a four-plate stove and leather sofas at TN Harlequin Luxaire company in December 2017 for US$4 173 using council funds and again on July 16 last year, she bought another pair of sofas worth $20 999 also using council funds.

The suspended Gweru town clerk had not been attending her disciplinary hearings until recently.

She also faces a disciplinary charge of not following procurement procedure after she acquired a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado outside the Cabinet approval limit.

According to the allegations, Gweru council sought Cabinet approval to purchase a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado for US$135 000.

After the Cabinet approval had been sought, Gwatipedza then influenced chamber secretary Vakai Chikwekwe and acting finance director, one O Masimba to pay an upward variation of the vehicle of US$176 357 to the supplier of the vehicle outside Cabinet authority.

It is alleged Gwatipedza was advised by the chamber secretary not to make an upward variation and stick to the authorised figure, but she went on to sign for an upward variation.

She is also accused of ordering a council driver to chauffeur her daughter to Chinhoyi University of Technology using council vehicle and fuel, where she was graduating.

The issue only came to light when the driver approached the finance director for travel and subsistence allowances.

Gwatipedza is also accused of contracting a garbage collector, Ndabezihle Ncube, without following due process.

It is also alleged council paid a total US$92 000 for a blackhoe loader after she misrepresented that it was new.

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Source: COVID-19 forces Parly to cancel key committee meetings | Newsday (News)

BY VENERANDA LANGA

PARLIAMENT has cancelled key committee meetings, including a public hearing scheduled for the end of March on the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No 2) Bill due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Section 328(4) of the Constitution stipulates that Parliament is required to invite and convene meetings for the public to express their views on the proposed Constitutional Bill.

It reads: “Immediately after the Speaker has given notice of a Constitutional Bill in terms of subsection (3), Parliament must invite members of the public to express their views on the proposed Bill in public meetings and through written submissions, and must convene meetings and provide facilities to enable the public to do so.”

The Bill was likely to attract a lot of contributions from the public as it carries about 25 proposed amendments to the Constitution.

Civil society organisations in the country have opposed some of the proposed amendments, which include removing the constitutional provision relating to the nomination of the Vice-Presidents as running mates prior to an election which is due to become operational in 2023.

Another proposed amendment is meant to increase the number of ministers and deputy ministers who can be appointed from outside Parliament from five to seven, among several other amendments.

The other committee meeting whose sitting was affected yesterday is the Budget and Finance Portfolio Committee, which was set to receive oral evidence from the Finance ministry and ZimSwitch.

Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Portfolio Committee, Felix Mhona yesterday confirmed that the committee meeting had been cancelled.

“The Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda announced last week that Parliament had closed, but he said that some committees would go on with their duties on a case by case basis. The Budget and Finance Committee had already invited the Ministry of Finance and ZimSwitch two weeks ago to come before Parliament to give oral evidence,” he said.

“This was just a usual oversight committee meeting, whereby we were to ask them to talk about the state of the economy.”

The committee which has been allowed to carry on with its duties is the Health Portfolio Committee chaired by Ruth Labode, which is currently on tour of health institutions in Bulawayo.

Last week when Mudenda announced that Parliament business, including committee hearings, would be cancelled as measures to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus, chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Tendai Biti asked if his committee could be allowed to continue to sit as it was behind schedule.

The PAC was in the process of investigating suspected abuse of Command Agriculture funding when Parliament business was abruptly cancelled due to the coronavirus scourge.

The post COVID-19 forces Parly to cancel key committee meetings appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

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FORMER Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere has withdrawn an application in which he was seeking to compel the State to comply with a court order which instructed it to release title deeds to his Nyanga property. Kasukuwere withdrew the matter after it was set down for hearing before High Court judge Justice Edith Mushore, who apparently had previously dealt with the case. In a

FORMER First Lady Grace Mugabe is now off the hook after a Mazowe miner who was suing her over a land dispute withdrew his application to have her evicted from a disputed farm. Langton Chapungu in October last year filed a court application seeking Grace’s eviction together with two other individuals identified in court papers only as Tongai and Jemwa. In a sudden turn of events, Chapungu