The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) tender scandal is far wider and deeper than initially thought, reported The NewsHawks.
The tender scandal reportedly involved more than US$100 million in public funds looted through fraudulent and inflated pricing of electoral material supplies during Zimbabwe’s disputed 2023 general elections.
According to The NewsHawks, the various supplies to ZEC were provided by South African company Ren-Form CC and its agents, including Better Brands Security (Pvt) Ltd, a local company.
Prices were reportedly inflated by up to 235%.
The report further states that the key players in the US$100 million deal were ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba, ZEC chief electoral officer Utloile Silaigwana, ZEC chief procurement officer Robson Changachirere, Chivayo, Moses Mpofu, Pedzai “Scott” Sakupwanya and Mike Chimombe, Central Intelligence Organisation Director-General Isaac Moyo, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Martin Rushwaya, lawyer Everson Chatambudza, Ren-Form international sales executive Angus Carlaw and the company chief executive Thomas Michel du Sart. It reads in part:
For ease of reference, here is the breakdown of the more than US$100 million which was used during the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission election tender last year.
There is the US$40 million main component delivered in two parts for the biometric voter registration kits.
To be specific, the first total tranche under which various payments were made was US$ 19,957,301.
The other part was a similar amount. This is clear in the leaked corruption dossier.
However, total invoices and subsequent payments attached to the dossier now publicly available amount to US$69 million.
The US$40 million is part of the US$69 million cost. The breakdown of the US$69 million comprises the following payments: US$2 673 360; US$4 919 592; US$8 964 693.80; US$3 544 526; US$4 025 559; US$4 126 500; US$4 786 800; US$5 000 000; US$4 989 325.50; US$3 946 626.50; US$5 731 979.50; US$5 907 123.30; US$5 992 334; and US$4 513 218.
There were other payments amounting to US$21 million for items such as canvas tents, ballot papers, solar lights and indelible ink-marking pens for the elections.
ZEC says it spent US$21 148 867 on importing material for the elections. This also entails materials like solar lights, tents, ballot paper and display kits for V11 forms.
However, documents seen by The NewsHawks show that the outlay on election materials included the US$69 million and US$21 million, bringing it to US$90 million.
There were also other transactions, for instance, ZEC’s order for 2,000 non-flushable toilets on the eve of the August 2023 elections for US$7.6 million.
The toilets, priced at US$3 800 per unit when they retail for about US$300 in South Africa, were only delivered in April 2024, eight months after the elections.
ZEC also spent US$5 million on gadgets to display voting returns and digital V11 polling station forms, for last August’s election, but those devices, bought at inflated prices, were only delivered months after the polls.
This brings the total amount of the deal to more than US$100 million.
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