ZMDC former bosses’ freedom bid flops
FORMER Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) board chairman David Murangari and the corporation’s acting general manager, Luke Akino, have a case to answer in their trial of corruptly awarding a $168 000 consultancy services contract to their acquaintance.
Harare regional magistrate Hosea Mujaya made the ruling when dismissing Akino and Murangari’s application for discharge at the close of the State’s case.
Akino and Murangari are being charged with criminal abuse of office.
They had argued in their application that the State had failed to raise enough evidence against them.
Mr Mujaya said there were issues that the two had to explain to the court and they should be put to their defence.
“A prima facie case has been made,” he said. “Cases that involve corruption have to be treated slightly different from other cases because you hardly have eye witnesses. You have to rely on circumstantial evidence.
“There are irregularities in the manner in which this contract was awarded.”
Akino and Murangari are set to return to court on February 11 to start presenting their defence.
The State led by Mr Michael Reza said sometime in July 2017, ZMDC received $7 million from Fidelity Printers through its then acting general manager Mr Garikai
Chimhina for the resuscitation of Jena Mine, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ZMDC, which was facing operational challenges.
Mr Reza alleged that sometime in August 2017, the ZMDC board chaired by Murangari appointed Akino as acting general manager and he influenced ZMDC to engage Thomas Mushungupa’s company called Mushungupa and Muhita Engineering Projects (Pvt) Ltd to resuscitate Jena Mine.
The court heard that his actions favoured his acquaintance and former Bindura Nickel Corporation workmate Mushungupa.
On September 28 the same year, it is alleged that Akino, acting on instructions from Murangari, invited Mushungupa to discuss the scope of work that was to be undertaken at Jena Mine.
The court heard that a meeting was convened on October 19 by the legal, audit and risk committee where Akino indicated that he was considering enlisting the services of an independent mining contractor to address the mining challenges at Jena Mine through an informal tender.
Further allegations are that sometime in October of the same year, Akino and Murangari engaged the service of Mushungupa and Muhita Engineering Projects at a cost of $168 126 to carry out the project without following tender procedures as stipulated in the Procurement Act.
On November 20, Murangari ordered Jena Mine to pay Mushungupa and Muhita Engineering $25 252 before signing the project management agreement contract and on the next day, the company started work without a contract.
The court heard that on March 22 last year, Akino signed a contract on behalf of Jena Mine when Mushungupa had already begun work four months prior to the signing date.
Investigations revealed that Mushungupa had worked with Akino at Bindura Nickel Mine in 1995 and with Murangari at the same mine from 2007 to 2016.
Further allegations are that Akino and Murangari’s engagement of Mushungupa’s company, in the absence of competition and evidence of due diligence on costs contrary to sections of Procurement Act, violated tender procedures.