A staff row at the Registrar-General’s Office has sucked in the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) after chief accountant, Mr Peter Bwanya, accused Registrar-General Mr Clement Masango of embezzlement over motor vehicles while the latter denies all wrongdoing and says Mr Bwanya is putting up a smokescreen since he is fighting disciplinary action over alleged incompetence and misbehaviour.
But ZACC has since impounded two vehicles — a Ford Ranger and an Isuzu KB250 — from the Central Registry and has launched investigations into allegations of abuse of office and unprocedural procurement of vehicles by Mr Masango.
ZACC’s action followed a complaint by Mr Bwanya, who accused Mr Masango of embezzlement of funds and the disappearance of six Isuzu KB250 single cab vehicles that he said the department had procured, but were not delivered
In his letter to Secretary for Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Mr Aaron Nhepera, Mr Bwanya said only five of 11 vehicles bought by the department had been delivered while mystery surrounded the whereabouts of a Toyota Land Cruiser that he said the Central Registry had bought.
However, Mr Masango has launched a scathing attack on Mr Bwanya and four officials from ZACC who impounded the vehicles.
In his response to Mr Nhepera, Mr Masango said Mr Bwanya was making the allegations to divert attention from pending disciplinary cases against him.
He accused the four ZACC officials of colluding with Mr Bwanya to embarrass him.
Mr Masango said his department bought only five vehicles out of the intended 11 after Treasury revoked the 1:1 parity between the Zimbabwe dollar to the United States dollar, while plans to procure the Land Cruiser were abandoned after the authority to buy it was rescinded.
He said there was paper trail for all the transactions and Mr Bwanya should have verified this if he was acting in good faith.
ZACC spokesperson, Commissioner John Makamure, said: “I can confirm that we are investigating that case, but cannot divulge details now.”
Contacted for comment, Mr Masango confirmed the development, but said the intervention of ZACC was “strange and unprecedented” since normally there was first an audit which would recommend a course of action.
He referred further questions to Mr Nhepera, who said he was aware of the case, but promised to comment substantively after meeting ZACC officials.
“Why don’t you wait because there is a likelihood that the involvement of ZACC was premature? I was dealing with this matter administratively and I do not know how ZACC came in. But I am going to meet them,” said Mr Nhepera.
In his letter dated February 13, Mr Bwanya said on September 14, 2018 payment of $596 037 to the Central Mechanical Equipment Department (CMED) for 11 vehicles was made, without procurement authority.
-State Media