…As AG orders release of Chiredzi’s graft Investigation report after 7 years

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI- Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing July Moyo is facing backlash for seemingly protecting Zanu PF rot at Chiredzi Town Council since taking over from former minister Savior Kasukuwere 20 months after the latter had ordered an investigation at the local authority.
The order by Kasukuwere was reported to be at the instigation of former Member of Parliament for Chiredzi West Darlington Chiwa and was to expose the rot at the local authority as well as force marching Zanu PF former council chairperson Francis Moyo out of council.
United Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association (UCHIRRA) and Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association (CHIRRA) through their lawyers Chadyiwa and Associates approached the High Court of Zimbabwe demanding the release of the Investigation Report from the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, which was the first respondent, with Chiredzi Town Council and Alpha Nhamo being second and third respondents respectively.
A letter signed by Luckson Muradzikwa, from the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office on January 18 this year highlighted that the ministry had no reasons to oppose the relief being sought to release a report of the commission which was appointed to investigate Chiredzi Town Council.
”Reference is made to our notice of filing filed on the 19th of December 2022 which our clients had instructed us to file before the honorable court that they were not opposed to the relief being sought by the applicant to compel the Respondents to release the Applicant’s a report of the Commission which was appointed to investigate Chiredzi Town Council.
“Please find herein the report attached from the 1st Respondent’s Office who is our client,” read the Attorney Generals letter to Chadyiwa and Associates.
Although the report, which was released seven years after the investigation, was implicating former council chairperson Francis Moyo, Shine Plus Housing Development Trust, Inotrade Investments and council management, it was mum on the involvement of the Ministry in the parceling out of commonage stands to a shelf company belonging to Trinity Mutsetse, Inotrade Investments.
A part of the report reads: ‘Chiredzi Town Council submitted 50 high density residential stands being stand numbers 7851-7900 to the Ministry of Local Government as commonage. Following an application by Trinity Mutsetse on behalf of Inotrade Investments (Pvt) Ltd on the 14th of May 2013. The commonage stands were then allocated by the Ministry to Inotrade Investments on the 5th of February 2014 for housing development. Ordinarily, there should be an allocation memorandum drafted by the State land Management section for approval by the Permanent Secretary. In this case there was no allocation memorandum. The basis of offer could not be established as his application letter had no project proposal and proof of funding’.
From the above finding , the report did not establish the role played by the ministry in granting Inotrade Investments the 50 commonage stands without following due processes including an allocation memorandum as well as project proposal and proof of funding for Trinity Mutsetse’s company.
Though the commission established the relationship between Trinity Mutsetse and Francis Moyo leading to Justin Chauke Housing Cooperative which was once chaired by Francis Moyo taking over the project from Inotrade while turning to be the supplier of first choice in terms of services and construction materials, it did not also highlight the efforts made by the ministry in recovering the intrinsic value of the land which was initially given to Inotrade Investments.
“However, Trinity Mutsetse was financially incapable to service and develop the stands. Consequently, he roped in the Justin Chauke Housing Cooperative which is the brainchild of councillor Francis Moyo. Justin Chauke Housing Cooperative represented by the cooperative’s chairperson Stephen Goto entered into a purely supply partnership agreement with Inotrade Investments. The agreement was that Inotrade would provide the 50 stands to Justin Chauke Housing Cooperative and that in return Inotrade would become the supplier of first choice in terms of services and construction materials. The stands were then sold to 50 people who were on Chiredzi Town Council waiting list under the facilitation of Francis Moyo,” part of the document read.
The stands were sold at a cost of $60 000 and government has not yet received anything for the land intrinsic value, which raises a red flag to the Ministry’s State Land Division on why they were not making a follow up of the payment after all those years, meaning someone was also involved in this deal as the report is silent about that.
Shine Plus Housing Development Trust, which is still collecting money from the beneficiaries to its scheme in Chiredzi to date, was awarded a piece of undeveloped land in order to service 560 low density residential stands without due processes being followed like tender processes, weakening the local authority’s bargaining power, with the layout producing 629 residential stands, five institutional stands and eight commercial stands, with Shine Plus benefitting 69 stands out the 560 agreement signed by both parties,(Shine Plus and Chiredzi T C).
Council also made a verbal agreement with Shine Plus to service a much bigger proportion, with the local authority benefitting an Isuzu worth US$ 65 000 which it later gave to the late Housing Director, Gerazimosi Bambazha as an exit package, meaning it benefitted nothing from the project.
“The deduction is further strengthened by another verbal agreement between council and Shine Plus to service a much bigger portion of the same project from which council benefitted an Isuzu worth $65 000.00. It is noteworthy that council has since lost the Isuzu to the late Housing Director, Gerazimosi Bambazha. There is no submission of any commonage on this area to the Ministry,” read part of the report.
Another local company, which the report recommended to be blacklisted from being contracted by any local authority in Zimbabwe is Concord Private Limited, after it exorbitantly charged US$ 19 506.99 for the construction of a three barrel culvert of 450 mm.
The culvert, which the local authority wasn’t supposed to contract any company to construct, was funded by ZINARA at the request of residents to protect school children who were exposed to dangers of flowing sewer.
“The contracted company, Concord Private Limited confirmed having quoted US$ 19 506.99 for a three barrel culvert of 450mm.
“However, what was constructed was in variance from the initial specifications which were used to withdraw funds from ZINARA. The Town Engineer’s report to ZINARA stated that the contractor was supposed to use 900 mm concrete pipes, lined in fours in six rows. Instead, the contractor used 450 mm concrete pipes in three rows,” read the report.
The Ministry’s Engineering Department Bill of Quantity for the construction of the culvert and rates summed up to US$ 16 362.60 with the local authority being prejudiced US$ 3 144.39.

…Farming equipment now in idle following eviction

Cephas Shava

Mwenezi-Former white farmer Shane Warth who in December 2022 was unceremoniously evicted from his 60 hectare plot in Mpapa area of Mwenezi East’s ward 13 has lamented that his several attempts to get an offer letter have all been in vain.
The plot that he productively utilized for 32 years and his state-of-the-art farming equipment is now lying idle at his homestead in Chiredzi following his eviction from the plot.
Warth (65), who at his evicted plot had a total of 25 permanent workers was the only farmer among 17 other Mpapa plot owners with a Centre Pivot and state-of-the-art farming equipment that made him one of the top local farmers who besides specialising in sugar cane farming also grew maize and soya beans among several other crops.
In a telephone interview, Warth told Tellzim News that having invested so much in the plot for the past 32 years; the eviction had completely ruined his life.
He said he is counting losses as he lost a considerable part of property during the eviction.
“I acquired the plot by paying for it some 32 years back and I made huge investment to ensure massive production at my plot and right now it is very painful that someone who had put absolutely nothing came over to claim ownership of the plot. The eviction had completely ruined my life. Right now my farming equipment is idle here in Chiredzi.
“Despite overwhelming evidence that I had been very productive for the past 32 years, I made countless efforts to get the offer letter at district, provincial and national levels but I was turned down in all the offices,” bemoaned Warth.
Warth’s fellow farmers at Mpapa also confirmed that the evicted farmer was indeed a star whom they relied on many farming expertise.
“We were given this land and we paid for it as it was part of pension package from Triangle Sugarcane Company where all the plot occupants used to work.
“What irks the most is that in the case of Warth’s eviction, the issue of property rights was completely ignored. We are really wondering where exactly are we going as a nation when proven progressive farmers like Warth are kicked out of their land like that and replaced by people without any track record of farming. Why don’t the government look for several vacant lands for newcomers to prove their farming skills?
“More worrisome is the fact that his yearly production regularly surpasses the rest of the farmers here. He was the only local farmer with the Centre Pivot and many of us relied on him in diverse ways,” said one Mpapa farmer who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Warth was evicted from his plot to pave way for Zanu PF central Committee member Cuthbert Muzara and one Emmanuel Chugubu who is said to be employed at a mine in Zvishavane.
One of the eviction’s beneficiaries, Muzara, told Tellzim News that he co-existed very well with Warth before his final removal.
Muzara who denied allegations of reaping where he did not sow by reportedly imposing himself on a farm where he did not contribute anything for its sustenance said he is legally occupying the plot.
“I am legally occupying the 21 hectare part of the plot that used to belong to Warth. I got the offer letter for that land which I acquired in 2017. I did not loot any of his property but I just legally occupy that piece of land.
“As for occupying the land, I started staying there in June last year and we used to co-exist very well and on several instances, I would hire Warth’s Centre Pivot to water my plot section. All the noise that came out recently was caused by his eviction from the main house and the larger plot section where my other colleague (Chugubu) has acquired an offer letter for,” said Muzara.
Initially, the Mpapa area had a total of 17 farmers of which four of them were whites but currently only two white farmers have remained while the other two were evicted.

…as ED is set to gazette ZEC new delimitations, which the faction claims it heavily influenced

TellZim Reporter

A faction allegedly aligned to the Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is said to be on cloud nine amid reports that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to gazette the new electoral boundaries in the next 14 days following submission of the final report by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chair Justice Priscila Chigumba recently.
The Chiwenga faction is very excited about the development as faction members in Masvingo province claimed that they heavily influenced the final ZEC delimitation report, with Mnangagwa’s loyalists’ constituencies either neutralized or dissolved completely. Speaking to TellZim on condition of anonymity, a Chiwenga loyalist in Masvingo province said the faction managed to influence the whole process through ZEC chair Justice Chigumba and her vice, a development that did not go well with the other seven commissioners including Jasper Mangwana, who then wrote to President Mnangagwa discrediting the whole process saying they were not fully consulted.
“What I can tell you is Chiwenga is way ahead; he is already planning life after 2023 general elections because he knows that Zanu PF will win resoundingly. But his major fear is that President Mnangagwa is likely to influence constitutional amendment so that he can run for a third term. Therefore, the delimitation report was done in such a way that the opposition will certainly gain more constituencies so that Zanu PF will not have a two-third majority in Parliament thereby making it very difficult for the amendment of the constitution,” said the source.
“It is dog eat dog; the leadership is fighting to control ZEC but the truth is Chiwenga is winning. Chiwenga wants to make sure that Mnangagwa does not get a two thirds majority in Parliament because he fears that the President will influence Parliament to amend the constitution to allow him to run for a third term. Remember the constitution was already amended and scratched off the running mate which will keep Chiwenga guessing if the President will appoint him Vice President or not after the 2023 general elections,” added the source.
It might be too early to suggest that the delimitation report will favor the opposition but that is where the pointers are right now. This would mean that Mnangagwa will not succeed, in case he wants to, to influence the constitutional amendment for him to run for a third term if Zanu PF does not have a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Some Mnangagwa faction members in Masvingo Province are already campaigning for Mnangagwa to stand as party Presidential candidate in 2028.
“They want Mnanagwa to run for another term in 2028 as they say he should be given enough time to make sure that the Vision 2030 becomes a success. The narrative is now almost everywhere and the faction members are publicly saying it even during meetings, so that is why Chiwenga moved in to stop that by influencing the delimitation report,” another party source said.
The Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee report presented on January 13 2023 and debated on January 17 and 18 in the National Assembly raised some issues in the preliminary report, providing an annexure that detailed anomalies in certain wards and constituencies, leaving some that will likely be left as they are in the final delimitation report to be gazetted soon.
In an interview with TellZim News, Zanu PF Political Commissar Dr Mike Bimha refuted allegations that ZEC was being influenced by a Zanu PF faction, saying the party had no technical capacity to interfere with the delimitation process as it was legitimate process provided for by the constitution.
“Those allegations are baseless and are reflection of the misunderstanding of the delimitation process. The party is not involved in the process, it is done by ZEC, guided by constitutional provisions. These things are very technical and Zanu PF does not have that technical capacity to do that. These allegations are just meant to tarnish the party’s name.
“Parliament has that right to give comments on the report and of course they would have consulted their constituents and parties so that they give recommendations, which I am sure they did. The Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee had parliamentarians from different parties and as a party we support the process that was done through the committee.
“ZEC in terms of the constitution will consider the input as they see fit. As you know, they do not have to do what was recommended; they have the right to consider and they can then say this goes, this does not, before presenting it to the President,” Bimha said.
Research Fellow of Institute for Pan African Thought and Conversation (IPATC), University of Johannesburg Dr Alexander Rusero however said the ruling party is shrinking the democratic space ahead of 2023 general elections and its influence is seen through the wanton arrests of opposition party members and human rights activists.
“If you scrutinize what is happening, Zanu PF has closed all the political space and has narrowed the democratic space. As we are speaking right now it’s as good as the CCC is banned because it is not there on the ground as each and every activity of theirs is descended heavily upon and that is a strong message of the kind of politics that we are experiencing.
“Unlike Mugabe, Mnangagwa has removed all forms of pretense to say he is a democrat or an aspiring democrat. Zimbabwe is now a full blown competitive authoritarian regime which simply needs opposition and elections to legitimize the incumbent’s hold of power. Zanu PF will not deliberately let itself be defeated in any way,” Dr Rusero added.
Some political analysts concurred with Dr Rusero saying Zanu PF is likely to win the forthcoming elections because the ruling party is using state apparatus to arrest and detain opposition leaders and human rights activists.