Mutoko council chief suspended
MUTOKO Rural District Council has suspended acting chief executive Mr Samson Zulu who is facing corruption-related charges.
The decision to suspend Zulu was taken in a full council meeting held last Friday barely days after his arrest by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission. He is currently remanded out of custody on $10 000 bail. Mutoko RDC chairperson councillor Christopher Karimazondo said the council had asked the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to second a suitable officer to act as chief executive.
According to court papers, Mutoko RDC, being a procuring entity under the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, is governed by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act for all its procurement of goods and services.
In January this year, Zulu allegedly mooted an idea to maintain and repair Oliver Newton Road in Mutoko which was in bad state. He allegedly flouted procurement procedures and offered the work to a group of young people in Mutoko’s Ward 20 without advertising or even considering at least three different bids as required by law.
He allegedly facilitated the release of $140 000 to the youths without assessment of the work by an engineer. Since Mutoko Rural District Council engineer was on suspension, council could have sought the services of the District Development Fund engineers. In February this year, Zulu is said to have irregularly sold a business stand without following due procedure.
He allegedly instructed the beneficiary to
deposit into Mutoko RDC CBZ Nostro account number 24148840110 a down payment of US$ 50 000 for the stand. The buyer undertook to make a full payment on terms that would be set by council. But Mutoko Council’s works committee refused to endorse the property sale.
Upon realising that he had probably committed an offence and in a bid to cover up the offence, Zulu allegedly advertised a tender for the sale of the said stand on February 21. In February this year, Zulu took council’s Isuzu vehicle registration number AAE 9013 to an individual called Peter Paradza for brake repairs in violation of the procurement regulations.
Paradza was not listed among dealers authorised by the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe ( PRAZ) but he was paid $58 500 for servicing of the vehicle’s brakes.