Harare, Zimbabwe – A damning Auditor General’s report has unveiled pervasive corruption within Zimbabwe’s government departments, revealing a trail of financial mismanagement and unfulfilled contracts.
“The real unredacted version would set the nation on fire,” an insider confided. “We have very serious credibility and accountability issues in government departments. Corruption is endemic. Zimbabwe is a huge crime scene, I tell you.”
Treasury’s GD6s
In December 2022, the Ministry of Finance ordered seven Toyota Hilux GD6 vehicles from Tsapo, a car dealership. According to the Auditor General: “The seven vehicles had not been delivered at the time of concluding the audit in September 2023.”
Ministry of Mines’ Missing Cruisers
Last September, the Ministry of Mines ordered a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado VXL and a Toyota Land Cruiser 79 for US$193,000 from Burnett Motors. The Prado VXL was delivered in April 2023 but without the necessary paperwork for change of ownership. The Land Cruiser 79 was still undelivered by May.
Home Affairs’ Car Chaos
In 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered 35 cars from Faramatsi Motors for ZWL$182,621,960, agreeing to pay half upfront with a delivery timeline of four weeks. Despite paying ZWL$175,000,000, only 11 cars were delivered by May 2023, leaving 24 cars undelivered.
Pricey Missing Laptops
Home Affairs also paid US$422,487 for 26 printers, 67 laptops, 55 desktop computers, and 22 printers. By May 2023, 22 of the printers were still undelivered. Additionally, in 2022, the Ministry paid US$474,750 to Vital Computers for 150 i7 laptops, expected within two weeks. By May 2023, only 26 laptops had arrived. The Auditor General highlighted that the government paid US$3,165 per laptop, whereas quotes elsewhere ranged from US$807 to US$960.
Unmoved Furniture
In 2023, the Department of Immigration paid US$439,585 to Aganang Furniture for office furniture, which was supposed to be delivered within two weeks. By May, no furniture had arrived.
Captive Contracts
The government paid US$8.1 million for 129 cars for the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) but failed to properly document this transaction. “Documents relating to the actual amount that was paid were not availed for my inspection. In addition, the actual amount paid was not disclosed in the Appropriation Account,” the Auditor General reported.
Attorney General Motors
In 2023, the government purchased cars for the Attorney-General’s office; seven from Byword Trading for US$374,430 and 11 from Paza Buster for US$533,500. The cars were to be delivered in 6-8 weeks. However, by the audit time, the three Toyota Corollas and four Toyota Hilux 2.8 GD6 from Byword had not arrived. The four Isuzu D-Max vehicles from Paza Buster were also undelivered.
Master of the Hilux
The Master of the High Court bought four Toyota Hilux cars from Croco Motors in 2022 for US$252,657, with an agreed delivery time of 40 days. By June 2023, only one had been delivered.
Sport Utility Vehicles
The Ministry of Sport purchased 17 Nissan Navara cars in December 2022 for ZWL$393,171,724 from AMTEC. By 2023, only seven had been delivered, and by May, the remaining vehicles were still undelivered. “In addition, out of those seven vehicles delivered, four of them were yet to be registered in the name of the Ministry,” the Auditor General noted.
This report underscores the severe issues of corruption, lack of accountability, and inefficiency plaguing the Zimbabwean government, sparking outrage and calls for urgent reforms.
