Four officials from the City of Harare have been taken to court over allegations of illegally awarding a US$9 million street lighting tender to Juluka Enndo Joint Venture, a company in which businessman Moses Mpofu holds a majority stake.
Never Murerwa (62), Jabulani Mukomazi (44), Denford Zhungu (69), and Tawanda Mutenhabundo (29) appeared before Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa. They were remanded in custody pending the finalization of their bail hearing.
Tender Irregularities and Court Proceedings
Murerwa and Mukomazi, employed by the City of Harare’s Procurement Management Unit as Manager Supply Chain and Principal Buyer respectively, allegedly played key roles in the tender process. Their responsibilities included authorizing procurement methods and determining which methods to use.
Zhungu and Mutenhabundo, serving as Principal Accountant and Engineering Technician, were part of the tender evaluation committee responsible for assessing bids. This committee evaluated tender number COH/DOW/S.5/2024 for the refurbishment of streetlights on various Harare roads, in preparation for the 44th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit set for August 2024.
In January 2024, the City of Harare initiated a project to rehabilitate street lighting ahead of the summit. On January 29, the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) granted specific exemptions to expedite key projects for the event. Consequently, a tender invitation was published on March 15 in the Government Gazette and listed on the Procurement Regulatory portal on March 19.
Prosecutors allege that eleven companies responded to the tender invitation, including Donax Enterprises, Ship Tracks, Furbank Trading, Radiation Incorporation, Slowgrad Engineering, Syvern Investments, Onel Electrical Engineers, Boltgas International, Stoyna Computers, Juluka Enndo Joint Venture, and Exodus & Company.
Controversial Awarding of Tender
On March 28, Murerwa appointed a Tender Opening Committee. The Evaluation Committee, including his accomplices, met on April 19 and awarded eight of the ten lots to Syvern Investments, Exodus & Company, Ship Tracks, and Onel Engineering. Due to lot limitations, no company received more than two lots.
Juluka Enndo Joint Venture, where Moses Mpofu is the majority shareholder, was initially disqualified for failing to meet tender requirements. Despite this, the accused allegedly conspired to award the remaining lots to Juluka Enndo Joint Venture, bypassing standard procurement processes that require competitive bidding.
The officials further ignored their prior decision to disqualify Juluka Enndo Joint Venture and awarded the tender to the company, which shares ownership with Synlak (Pvt) Ltd. Notably, Synlak had previously failed to deliver on a 2019 biogas digester project for the City of Harare. This contravened the bidding document’s condition, which stated that companies with poor performance records were ineligible.
The City of Harare, acting on the accused’s recommendations, entered into a contract with Juluka Enndo Joint Venture and began preparations for an advance payment of US$9,244,328.71. The National Prosecuting Authority asserts that by doing so, the accused knowingly violated their duties as public officers to extend undue favor to Juluka Enndo Joint Venture.
Source: New Zimbabwe
