Harare Town Clerk Hosiah Abraham Chisango, 54, has been granted bail by the High Court in Harare under specific conditions.
He is required to deposit US$1,000 with the clerk of the court, reside at his given address, not interfere with state witnesses, report to the police once a week, and surrender his passport.
Chisango is jointly charged with 42-year-old Artkins Mandaza for allegations of criminal abuse of duty, and they had previously been denied bail by the lower court.
It is the State’s case that the accused persons connived to unlawfully award a street lighting tender to Juluka Enndo Joint Venture, a company in which Moses Mpofu who is in custody is the majority shareholder.
Allegations are that in so doing the accused persons disregarded an earlier decision to disqualify Juluka Enndo Joint Venture for having failed to meet the bid requirements.
The accused persons awarded the tender to a company whose owners also own Synlak (Pvt) Ltd, a company which failed to deliver in a biogas digester tender awarded in 2019.
This was contrary to the standard bidding document condition which provides that bidders with bad records from previous City of Harare tenders were not eligible.
Acting in connivance with the evaluation committee, the second accused person drafted the contract between the City of Harare represented by the first accused and the company, represented by Moses Mpofu even though they had used a wrong procurement method and without seeking exemption from the Procurement Regulatory Authority.
The first accused person then wrote to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works seeking advance payment of the contract value of US$9 244 328.71 but the payment was not processed.
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