City engineer nabbed for corruption

A CITY of Harare principal engineer was brought before Harare magistrate Donald Ndirowei yesterday facing two counts of criminal abuse of office.

Albert Madanha (54) was remanded in custody to April 2 for bail ruling.

The complainant is the State, represented by Gerald Mutumhe, City of Harare’s chief engineer.

Investigating officer Mhango Addington objected to bail saying Madanha was a flight risk who can escape to Scotland to join his family.

He alleged that Madanha had also interfered with some State witnesses after his arrest.

Defence lawyer Tafadzwa Madotsa said the charges against his client were cooked up.

Madotsa argued that his client was found not guilty during a disciplinary tribunal at his workplace some time ago over similar charges.

Madanha has been the principal engineer of Road Maintenance in the Department of Works at City of Harare since 2009 and is currently on suspension.

His duties included designing local road schemes, road maintenance, planning highway maintenance, as well as preparing tender and contract documents.

State prosecutor Anesu Chirenje told the court that in September 2022, Southern Plan Energy company approached Madanha seeking assistance on how it could acquire land for the purposes of establishing an liquified petroleum gas fuel station.

Court documents state that Madanha advised the company to identify a vacant piece of land suitable for its intended business.

The company identified an area at corner Wilson Road and Piers Road in Borrowdale, which is a road servitude.

It is alleged that Madanha, without the permission or approval of council, entered into an agreement with the company to construct a service station.

On June 2 last year, Madanha allegedly used forged documents to induce payment from the company of US$2 084 as land development levy.