Thread by @waIzwi

@matandamoyo @PoliceZimbabwe @edmnangagwa this thread is a brief summary of the findings from the Auditor General’s Report courtesy of the brilliant work done by @Wamagaisa in this week’s BSR. I will focus this thread on a few case examples where he indicated ZACC should focus on

Case 1: The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare entered into a contract with a company called Digikad Zimbabwe Private Limited for the supply of biometric cards. The Ministry borrowed $500 000 from NSSA for this purpose and paid Digikad in advance. However by September 2018

Digikad had only supplied 50000 cards leaving a balance of 200000. In order to repay NSSA the Ministry diverted 500000 from the Public Assistance Programme meant to support vulnerable groups. Incredibly, Digikad is suing the Ministry for specific performance! The Ministry should

never have entered into such a big deal without the funds. The Auditor General is using the Ministry to pay back the funds to the Public Assistance Programme and to pursue the delivery of outstanding cards from Digikad. This deal needs further investigative scrutiny by ZACC.

Case 2: @matandamoyo this case involves the “Pedstock Loan Scheme”. In 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture entered into an agreement with Pedstock establishing a scheme called the Pedstock Facility Phase 1. Under this scheme 80 farmers were to be given irrigation equipment worth

$10.8 million. However, by 2018 the Ministry had recovered just $94 753 (1 percent recovery rate). The beneficiaries were not billed and their identity is not disclosed. The Auditor General highlights the risk that these loans may never be recovered. The Ministry’s response was

that the Department of Irrigation does not have capacity to make recoveries and it was recommending that the loans be passed on the Agribank to pursue the debtors.This reads much like the old RBZ Farm Mechanisation Scheme where elites got agricultural equipment&never paid back

until the debt was eventually passed on to taxpayers when the government assumed the debt. It’s important to know who the beneficiaries were. ZACC must demand a list of beneficiaries and publish it. They must carry the cost. It should never be passed to taxpayers.

Case 3: this one is about the
Special Maize Production Programme under the Sakunda Facility (Command Agriculture?) @matandamoyo This is described as an $18 million Sakunda Holdings Facility Phase 1 scheme. Loans worth $16.3 million were given to 233 farmers but there has been no

evidence of a billing system for the beneficiaries and no evidence that they were invoices. There is also no verification that a company called Maka Resources Private Ltd which was engaged to rehabilitate irrigation infrastructure actually did the work. $1.7 million from the

Sakunda Facility was supposed to support the Department of Irrigation by purchasing vehicles and equipment. However no vehicles or equipment were ever bought. There is also no evidence of this agreement as the AG was not given the relevant documents. As the AG states...

“I was unable to determine how the loan facility operated since I was not provided with the Term Sheet or Loan Agreement between Sakunda Holdings and the Government”. Without recovery of the loans the state progress has been due to lack of an approved Term Sheet”. @matandamoyo

This is scandalous. It means the Ministry which is charge of the scheme and a party to it does not even have the Loan Agreement or Term Sheet with Sakunda Holdings. ZACC must look into this scheme and demand sight of the Loan Agreements and beneficiaries. The nation deserves

to know how public funds were used in this scheme.

Case 4: this one is about Solutions Motors No. 2 - Plant and Equipment. On 5 December 2017 the Department of Irrigation entered into a contract with Solution Motors for the purchase of plant and equipment which included excavators, tipper trucks, motorised compactor and a water

bowser. The contract was worth $958 665 which was paid in advance. However, at the time of the audit in 2018, plant and equipment worth $515 650 had not been delivered. The AG also found that there were no registration books for the equipment that had been delivered and was

therefore unable to verify actual ownership. The reason given for the absence of registration books is that Solution Motors has failed to provide Customs Clearance Certificates. The net result is that at law the Department of Irrigation does not own the plant and equipment. If

there were a dispute over the property public funds are at risk since the government has no proof of ownership. The two Solution Motors cases raise important questions. As the AG pointed out it is doubtful that Solution Motors had the capacity to supply the goods, particularly

the plant and equipment and the vehicles. The beneficial ownership of Solution Ownership needs investigation so that the persons behind this company which has obviously benefited from public funds are identified. It is important to pursue and recover the public funds sunk into

Solution Motors.How was Solution Motors awarded two through proper public procurement procedures?Was due diligence performed to ensure that Solution Motors had the capacity to deliver?After all, Solution Motors got the money to purchase the goods. It was no more than

a middleman for the government department but even then it failed to deliver and kept the money. There can’t be a more blatant case of theft or at least, abuse of public funds. It’s worth noting that both cases happened soon after the coup that toppled former leader,Robert Mugabe

Mnangagwa was only a few weeks in office. Who are the people behind Solution Motors? That’s should be a good starting point for ZACC to investigate but clearly there’s something rotten in these deals and public funds have been siphoned.

Case 5:

Disguised donations. The Ministry of Justice went into a “donation arrangement” with a South African company, described as “Gloew Trading”, which was the donor. In terms of the arrangement, Gloew Trading was to donate 4 million litres of diesel to the Zimbabwe Prisons and

Correctional Services. To this end the Ministry got a waiver of duty to the tune of $2.5 million. In other words the donated fuel would be brought into Zimbabwe without paying duty.The National Oil Infrastructure Company (NOIC) would provide storage facilities&CMED would provide

transport services. The Ministry’s records showed that it had received 39 010 litre of diesel by 31 December 2018. However, CMED the official transporter shows 672 500 litres of diesel had been withdrawn from the NOIC storage facility. Furthermore, the AG found no documentation

to show how 642 490 litres of this fuel was used and what it was used for. The AG rightly highlighted the risk that the fuel may have been diverted into the commercial market. If the suspicion is correct, it means someone fraudulently took advantageous the waiver of duty to bring

fuel duty free under the guise that it was a donation. The AG highlights that the government may have been prejudiced of revenue to the tune of $2.5 million in unpaid duty on the fuel because of the Certificate or Waiver issued on grounds that it was a donation to government.

Was this in fact a fraudulent scheme carried out under the guise that it was a benevolent donation to the government? The issues raised by the AG warrant further investigation and scrutiny. The Ministry said the donor was compiling the documents. This is arguably a suitable

candidate for ZACC and law enforcement agencies to investigate.

Case 6: Diversion of Funds. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare was a major culprit of diverting money from specific funds. It took $232 985 from the Disabled Persons Fund while the National Rehabilitations Centres Fund advanced $26 000 to the Ministry. The Ministry also

took $6 294 from the Child Welfare Fund meant for vulnerable children.
In energy, $17.2 million from the Strategic Fuel Reserve Fund was unconstitutionally paid to the Zimbabwe Power Company and the ZETDC. There is much more of this actross the board, funds meant for specific

purposes that were diverted to the parent Ministry - from NSSA, POTRAZ and many other institutions. Some of the charges against Minister Mupfumira who has just been arrested relate to the diversion of funds.The truth of the matter is she is not the only Minister who has done that

A study of the Auditor General's report shows that at leats 90% of ministers, past and present have done precisely the same things. They have used public funds from departments or Funds under their Ministries in that manner. They have often used the excuse that Treasury has been

slow to avail funds to them. However, some may have used that process to abuse public funds to pursue their own interests,which means they have abused public funds under the auspices of meeting the public good. This is why it's important for ZACC to investigate all cases in which

public funds meant for specific purposes have been diverted to parent ministries as "borrowings" or other purposes. The end. Again, this thread is courtesy of the work done by brilliant citizens, the Auditor General and @Wamagaisa my sekuru, thank you for this selfless service

@matandamoyo if ZACC is serious about pursuing criminals and crimes committed, the AG and @Wamagaisa provided low hanging fruits and we wait for action. @ZLHRLawyers @HeraldZimbabwe @zanupf_patriots @PoliceZimbabwe @edmnangagwa @NewsDayZimbabwe @zimlive @Mathuthu @nqabamatshazi

Thank you again @Wamagaisa this BSR was sickening and disturbing to the core given the depth of the rot document by the AG and yet the President and other State Functionaries haven’t been active.