- More than national budget.
- Enter Emmerson Mnangagwa
By Farai D Hove| The man who presided over the appointing of former President Robert Mugabe’s son in law, Simba Chikore to the national airliner Air Zimbabwe, Joram Gumbo, has been named in a long report that exposes him for blowing more than $2 billion in dodgy costs for the Harare-Beitbridge road highway construction.
The report authored way back in 2016, reveals the road costs less than $700 million to construct. The embarrassment comes at a time when Kenya is constructing a similar road which links three countries and costs less than $621 million. The difference -$2 billion is believed to be going straight into the pockets of ZANU PF cronies and crooks.
Kenya’s 530 km Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo road is to cost just 620 million U.S. dollars.
More than 0,5 national budget
Zimbabwe’s annual budget is a paltry US$4 billion and at least 96% of the total revenues under the budget go to the wage bill and other expenditure, while only 4% remains for capital projects.
A 2016 government-commissioned report titled The Transport Master Plan, back then revealed that although the project is desirable, it is uneconomic and unaffordable.
“Public-private partnerships (PPPs) road sub-sector projects in Zimbabwe at the present time are inhibited by the low volume of traffic, even on the major highway like the Harare-Beitbridge Road, whose average traffic is around 1 000 vehicles per day, making the roads unviable on a self-financing basis, although they may be economically viable,” reads the document.
President Mnangagwa is not a King, so should he be allowed to receive gifts like Webster Shamu’s 15 beasts? | CIVIL SERVANT LAWS NO.1
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“Alternative investment strategies include the transfer of some of the commercial or demand risk to government, either through availability payment mechanism, equity injection or other similar arrangements, which may not be feasible under the prevailing economic environment.”
The cost of the construction of the road will blow up US$2,7 billion which is to 67,5% of the country’s annual budget.
In 2003, the cost of dualising the highway was pegged at US$833 million, before it went up to US$1 billion, US$1,2 billion, US$2 billion, US$2,5 billion and now US$2,7 billion.
The then Transport Minister Joram Gumbo was in 2013 also quoted indicating that from the bids that had been submitted, the project would cost anything between US$1,5 billion and US$2 billion.
The Financial Gazette cites its attempts to obtain answers from Gumbo on how the cost could have more than doubled, and he said: “Go and ask those people who have been saying it because I do not know what you are talking about.”
Gumbo’s then deputy, Michael Madanha, who told the Senate on October 21 that three bids for the project had been submitted to Mnangagwa for consideration before announcement of the winner.
Enter Emmerson Mnangagwa
More stink later emerged when it became apparent that government cancelled the tender of the first company which won it and opted to break the statutory rules so that the tender would be handled by a commission led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa back then.
Harare West legislator, Jessie Majome, said the way the project was being handled raised suspicion.
“The move startlingly breaks all the rules in the good governance and rule of law book. What on earth happened to checks and balances? Is it a trap for him (Mnangagwa) to trip on? Moreso it rides roughshod over the rigorous procedures in the Procurement Act and the principles of financial management in the Constitution. No wonder why we keep ranking low on the business competitiveness index,” she said.
Questions have remained on how and why the figures changed amid concerns that the money is going into the pockets of crooks and party cronies. One such other project being the Gwanda solar project which has seen a convicted fraudster Wicknell Chivayo raking away $5million of ratepayers’ money for a project what would never take off but would make Chivayo an instant millionaire. SEE BELOW THE LATEST ON CHIVAYO:
6 Replies to “SIMBA CHIKORE AFTERMATH: Joram Gumbo Named for Blowing Up USD 2 Billion In “Fake Costs” For Harare-Beitbridge Road Construction”
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Shona speaking majority will try to silence people like you by calling them names and castigating them. However, one day the same fate will come their way and they will not understand that it could have been avoided had everyone listened to you and stood up to thuggery and genocide.
In any nation there will always be looting when it comes to projects, but these guys have taken it to a different level. They do it so openly and charge ridiculous amounts.
I once calculated the cost of that road ndikati its inflated and some oeople on this forum said what what. Hezvo ka kubirwa masikati machena.
is it not dick mboko? use spell check so that u don’t misspell your name.
The ring leaders of this genocide (Gukurahundi) were Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the deposed President of Zimbabwe, the current President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who at the time was the State Security Minister, Constatino “Dominic Chinenge” Chiwenga, the current Army General who deposed Mugabe through a Coup D’état, the late Army General Commander, Rex Nhongo Mujuru, Air Force Commander, Perence “Bigboy” Shiri who was the then Commander of the 5th Brigade and now the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture and the former Defence Minister, Sydney Sekeramai among many others. At the time of the genocide, Perence Shiri assumed a godly status and blasphemously nick-named himself “Black Jesus”.
The current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was the then State Security Minister, compared the Matebele, in April 1983, to “cockroaches” that needed to be killed by a now banned insecticide called DDT. The North-Korean trained 5th Brigade killing machine was compared to the DDT insecticide.
Its obvious that the Lacoste cabal being the most corrupt and vicious dogs, used the gun totting thugs to protect the ill-gotten wealth and get power through unconstitutional means. To all the idiots who could not understand Prof Jonathan Moyo’s warnings, its now time for reckoning, suffer continue, cursed Zimbabwe.