Inquiry into $100m election contract hits dead end

Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption watchdog has closed its inquiry into alleged fraud in the procurement of election materials for the 2023 polls, reports Zimlive. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) said it found no evidence linking businessman Wicknell Chivayo or the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to wrongdoing in the award of contracts worth over $100m to South African company Ren-Form CC, which were issued without an open tender. It is an unsatisfactory conclusion for transparency advocates who had flagged the election procurement as emblematic of opaque state contracts under President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The probe was triggered after two of Chivayo’s former associates, Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe, alleged improper dealings involving senior ZEC and government officials. The two men, claiming to have been partners with Chivayo and Ren-Form CC before they were elbowed out, alleged a conspiracy to inflate invoices. ZEC denied ever conducting business with Chivayo, Mpofu or Chimombe. ZACC chair Michael Reza, the country’s former chief prosecutor, said investigators have hit a dead end. ‘Chimombe and Mpofu have made allegations, but they have not supplied us with any information, which would link Chivayo to the commission of the alleged fraud at ZEC, so that is where we are. We have nothing to go by as things stand.’ Chivayo, who flies in a private jet and owns at least four Rolls Royces, welcomed ZACC’s decision to end its investigation of him. Ren-Form has denied wrongdoing.

Full ZimLive.com report