Outcomes of a probe into the arrangements between the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) and a private firm, Univern Enterprises by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee have shown that the former breached the law by granting the latter deals without going to tender.
But that is only the tip of the ice-berg.
ZINARA and Univern Enterprises are engaged in a number of deals, ranging from software provision, supply of graders, stationary, vehicle licencing, and radio and television licensing among others.
Univern management confirmed that all its deals had not gone to tender as they had “made an unsolicited approach to ZINARA.”
Notwithstanding the flouted tender processes, the PAC last week questioned the structuring of the numerous deals, which PAC chairman Tendai Biti says are “abnormal” and “grossly inflated”.
Under the contract for vehicle licensing, as a case in point, indications are that ZINARA paid Univern over US$33 million within a four-year period, as well as US$10 million under the tollgate contract between 2013 and 2015.
It also came out from the questioning that Univern Enterprises signed contracts running for as long as 10 years for provision of software for vehicle licensing, tollgates, supply of graders.
The company also gets a lion’s share from license fee collections, vehicle transit fees and fuel levy as well as road access fees.
And the benefits to Univern vary according to contract, with earnings ranging from 12 percent to as high as high as 22 percent of ZINARA’s gross earnings per category.
The alleged corruption at ZINARA were exposed in a forensic audit of the parastatal carried out by Grant Thornton.
Univern Enterprises is also alleged to have been paid US$3 million over a three-year period to supply the parastatal with stationery and also supplied graders that were said to be fit only for use in snow in one of the contracts they signed.
ZINARA has also been implicated in several other cases of alleged corruption.
An audit by Grant Thornton shows that cumulatively, ZINARA paid an unregistered company – Bermipools – US$589 748, 94 in two years.
Grant Thornton also established that Bermipools is one of the companies that were used by Twalumba Holdings to get a contract from ZINARA.
Twalumba Holdings was once investigated by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) over a US$2 million road rehabilitation tender involving Notify Enterprises, one of its shelf companies.
In other cases, outlined by the audit, ZINARA paid out over half a million United States dollars to a non-existent company between 2012 and 2013 under its ‘special projects arrangement’.
There are also concerns that Univern Enterprises CEO Serge Levy has political connections he uses to secure deals with public companies and parastatals such as ZINARA.
There are indications that Univern has come into partnerships with several public entities that were secured without following proper tender procedures.
But there are greater concerns that Univern’s political connections are now interfering with the PAC’s investigations.
PAC chairman Biti has claimed that there were attempts to stop the committee’s hearings.
“I even got calls from very high offices trying to ensure that this meeting today does not take place, but we are very determined to get to the bottom of it,” Biti said while addressing other MPs last week.