By Municipal Reporter–The Transport Ministry has retracted its earlier claim that all companies contracted to rehabilitate the dilapidated Bulawayo–Victoria Falls Road are currently on site.
On Tuesday, 29 April 2025, the Ministry announced via its official X (formerly Twitter) account that government efforts to upgrade the Bulawayo–Victoria Falls Road were progressing, with rehabilitation works expected to commence in May. The post further stated that eight contractors involved in the project were already deployed.
However, it subsequently emerged that the tender process for the project had only closed on the same date—29 April 2025—indicating that some companies were still in the process of submitting their bids at the time the Ministry claimed contractors had already been selected and mobilised.
In a statement issued later on Tuesday, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Mr. P.J. Makumbe, clarified that no contractors are currently on site, as the tender process is still ongoing.
Makumbe further acknowledged that an officer assigned to manage the Ministry’s social media platforms had posted the inaccurate information without first verifying it with technical officials from the Department of Roads, thereby breaching the Ministry’s Standard Operating Procedures for information verification.
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He explained that the tender, which was issued on 17 April 2025, officially closed on 29 April 2025 at 11 AM.
Following the close of the bidding period, an evaluation committee is expected to assess the submissions.
He added that the results will then be submitted to the Special Procurement Oversight Committee for final review and approval before contracts are awarded to successful bidders. Part of the statement reads:
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development wishes to unreservedly apologise to members of the public and all its stakeholders for posting a Twitter message containing wrong information on 29 April 2025 at 0918 Hours.
The Twitter message tagged a story published on 28 April 2025 by the Herald Online, which was headlined: “Victoria Falls contractors on site.”
The Ministry acknowledges that no contractor is on site, as the tender process is still ongoing.
One of the officers assigned the duty to manage the Ministry’s twitter handle conceded and acknowledged that she breached the internal Standard Operating Procedures of information verification, by not verifying the authenticity of the facts with the technical officials in the Department of Roads, before posting.
The Ministry wishes to set the record straight on the matter as follows: the tender which was issued on 17 April 2025 closed on 29 April 2025 at 1100 Hours.
After the closure of the bidding period, an evaluation committee will sit, whereupon the outcome will be sent to the Special Procurement Oversight Committee for oversight of the tender process before awarding the same to successful bidders.