Harare’s Town Clerk, Hosiah Chisango, is facing serious fraud charges in a US$9 million case. He is set to return to court today, where a magistrate will decide if he should be granted bail.
Following their court appearance last Thursday, Chisango and the city’s contracts manager, Artkins Mandaza, have been detained. Lancelot Mutsokoti, the prosecution’s lead attorney, is arguing against bail, stating that the seriousness of the charges and the substantial sum of money at stake could encourage the two to try to escape. Additionally, they fear that the accused, who are primarily their subordinates, may obstruct the witnesses.
The accusations concern a street lighting initiative in Harare that is part of the planning for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit that takes place next month. The City of Harare initiated an improvement project for street lights in January.
The city released a call for bids for the project on March 15. Eleven businesses put in their proposals. A Tender Opening Committee was constituted on March 28. On April 19, four businesses—Syvern Investments, Exodus & Company, Ship Tracks, and Onel Engineering—were given the contract by an evaluation committee for eight of the 10 lots. Two lots remained unclaimed.
Moses Mpofu’s company, Juluka End Joint Venture, was eliminated from consideration for the bid due to noncompliance with the conditions. Nevertheless, disregarding the earlier ruling to disqualify the company, Chisango and Mandaza, along with their purported collaborators, gave Juluka End Joint Venture the remaining two lots. The proprietors of Juluka End Joint Venture are also the owners of Synlak (Pvt) Ltd., a company that was not able to fulfill a contract in 2019.