Senior Zvishavane Town Council officials convicted for corruption
Story by Tafara Chikumira
THREE senior Zvishavane Town Council officials have been convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for criminal abuse of office.
The trio of Tinoda Mukutu aged 53, Housing Director Nhlanhla Ngwenya (44), and Town Engineer Dominic Mapwashike (44) was convicted after a full trial.
The trio was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) after flouting tender procedures and awarding the same contract twice to a company called JM Construction, even though the firm failed to meet the terms of the first contract.
The state proved that the co-accused renewed the agreement with the land-developing firm without a council resolution.
The court heard that in 2016, Zvishavane Town Council agreed with Monitor Enterprises trading as JM Construction, for servicing 27 central business district extension stands valued at around two million 800 thousand United States dollars.
JM Construction won the tender but the stipulated two-year timeframe lapsed before completing the works resulting in the termination of the contract.
The convicted trio however connived to hand-pick JM Construction to pursue the project without due process.
