VP Chiwenga ‘snatches’ $3, 7 billion dam construction project

VICE PRESIDENT Constantino Guveya Chiwenga allegedly usurped a $3,7 billion dam construction project in Manicaland province and illegally imposed a Chinese company at the expense of a local company that had a subsisting Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the government, Express Mail Zim can reveal.

Information at hand points out to the effect that Chiwenga handpicked a Chinese company Sino-Hydro Corporation and elbowed out a local company Tawana Engineering despite of a subsisting MoA signed between government and Tawana Engineering.

The latter and the Ministry of Lands, Water,Climate and Rural resettlement have a valid Memorandum of Agreement for the “Kondo and Chitowe Dams Multipurpose Joint Venture Project” signed on May 22 2018 and running for an initial period of two years

To defend the deal, Tawana Engineering instructed John Mugugu attorneys to file an application seeking compensation for the expenses incurred in the feasibility survey it undertook as agreed with the government.

In its founding affidavit filed at the High Court , Tawana Engineering cited Chiwenga, Zimbabwe National Water Authority(ZINWA) and Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) as respondents in that order.

They allege that Chiwenga instructed the Ministry of Lands to engage Sino-Hydro Corporation under the pretext that the MoA between Tawana and government had expired.

“Copies of the letter from the office of the 2nd “Respondent (Chiwenga), together with the letter from Sinohydro Corporation Limited, are attached hereto marked as “Annexure P”.

Hand-written notes on “Annexure P” show that someone asked a Mr Mutepfa for an update on the matter on 19 February 2019.

“It is my respectful submission that the letter from the 2nd Respondent’s office was the reason why our project was put to tender. “There is no other way to read the letter than that it was an instruction to the 1st Respondent to do exactly that, and it explains why the 3rd Respondent (ZINWA) would go ahead and put to tender a project that is already subject to an extant MoA,”read part of the founding affidavit.

“I submit that there is no possible rational explanation for why the 1st Respondent would put the Kondo and Chitowe Dams Multipurpose Project to tender, complete with the lie that the MoA has expired.

“The only possible interpretation of the 1st Respondent (Chiwenga)’s conduct, which is so outrageous in its defiance of logic or acceptable standards,” submitted Mushambi.

Documents seen by this publication show that Tawana had entered a mutual agreement with Italian company Vinci Construction which had offered to construct the dam and some of their engineers were in fact already paid.

Institutions like ABSA bank, NSSA and IBDZ had agreed to finance the project and this publication is in possession of copies of commitment letters.

Chiwenga and the other respondents have neglected to file a notice of opposition to date.