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Harare Town Clerk Hosiah Chisango has been arrested on charges related to the illegal awarding of a US$9.2 million street lights tender to businessman Moses Mpofu, who is currently imprisoned over a failed Presidential Goat Scheme.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) confirmed Chisango’s arrest and stated that he will appear in court on Thursday. The allegations against Chisango involve collusion with four other city officials, who were arrested two weeks ago.
These officials are Never Murerwa (62), Jabulani Mukomazi (44), Denford Zhungu (69), and Tawanda Mutenhabundo (29). Murerwa and Mukomazi, employed in the City of Harare’s Procurement Management Unit as Manager Supply Chain and Principal Buyer respectively, are accused of playing significant roles in the tender process.
Zhungu and Mutenhabundo, who were Principal Accountant and Engineering Technician at the time, were members of the tender evaluation committee responsible for assessing Tender COH/DOW/S.5/2024, which involved the refurbishment of streetlights across Harare.
According to ZACC, Chisango and his accomplices allegedly bypassed proper procedures to award the tender to Juluka Enndo Joint Venture, a company owned by Mpofu, despite the company failing to meet the necessary requirements. The tender was part of a city-wide street lighting rehabilitation project initiated in January 2024 in preparation for the 44th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit, scheduled to be held in Harare in August 2024.
The project attracted responses from eleven companies, including Donax Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd, Ship Tracks (Pvt) Ltd, Furbank Trading (Pvt) Ltd, Radiation Incorporation (Pvt) Ltd, Slowgrad Engineering (Pvt) Ltd, Syvern Investments (Pvt) Ltd, Onel Electrical Engineers (Pvt) Ltd, Boltgas International (Pvt) Ltd, Stoyna Computers (Pvt) Ltd, Juluka Enndo Joint Venture (Pvt) Ltd, and Exodus & Company (Pvt) Ltd.
The ZACC has indicated that the accused officials manipulated the tender process to favor Mpofu’s company, raising concerns about corruption and improper conduct within the city’s administration.
