A former employee of ZESA Holdings, Joseph Wagusiwa (39), appeared before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi charged with defrauding the power utility of US$20,456. He was granted bail of US$200, and the case was adjourned until December 1. The complainant in the case is ZESA Holdings, represented by Bodwell Masakadza, a forensic and loss control officer.
According to the prosecution, Wagusiwa and his alleged accomplice, Darlington Chiputura, manipulated ZESA Holdings’ credit systems between January 2018 and March 2021. They created fraudulent credits for electricity tokens to be given to ZESA Holdings clients. Wagusiwa advertised on social media that he was selling electricity tokens, leading 242 clients to purchase them. He provided Chiputura with the clients’ electricity meter numbers, and Chiputura bought electricity tokens for them using his EcoCash number.
Wagusiwa would then supply ZESA Holdings with amounts less than the value of the tokens. The fraudulent activity was discovered during an audit conducted by Grant Thornton Forensic Auditors on behalf of ZESA Holdings.
This comes shortly after the Auditor-General’s Office reported that several state-owned enterprises in Zimbabwe paid millions of dollars for goods and services that were never delivered.
In her latest report for the financial year ending December 31, 2022, the Acting AG Mrs Rheah Kujinga, revealed that public entities also suffered significant financial losses. For instance, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) experienced a loss of $209 million after purchasing vehicles that were not fully delivered. Despite making the payment in February 2022, only 15 out of 35 Toyota Hilux vehicles were received, and none of the 50 Toyota Corolla vehicles were delivered by December 2022.