By Victor Maphosa
Investigations of former Transport Minister Joram Gumbo’s case of alleged criminal abuse of office involving US$37 million are almost complete and the process to forfeit his relative’s house which was to be used as Zimbabwe Airways headquarters is already underway, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has said.
As part of the deal, it is alleged Gumbo directed the release of US$1 million for the refurbishment of Ms Gumbo’s property and customising it into the airline’s headquarters. The house is located at 1436 Gletwin, Shawasha Hills, just south of Glen Lorne and far from the airport.
ZACC spokesperson Commissioner John Makamure told our Harare Bureau that the anti-graft body had already engaged relevant authorities to speed up the forfeiting process.
“Investigations into former Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Joram Gumbo’s cases are underway and are at an advanced stage.
“We have already commenced the process of forfeiting the house of his relative, Mavis Gumbo, which was customised and rented out to Zimbabwe Airways, to use as their headquarters,” Commissioner Makamure said.
Part of the allegations are that Gumbo, now the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs (Monitoring and Implementation of Government Programmes), showed favour to his relative, Mavis, by awarding her a contract to rent out her house to Zimbabwe Airways.
As part of the deal, it is alleged Gumbo directed the release of US$1 million for the refurbishment of Ms Gumbo’s property and customising it into the airline’s headquarters.
The house is located at 1436 Gletwin, Shawasha Hills, just south of Glen Lorne and far from the airport.
Government lost U$1million in refurbishing the property and Mavis received huge amounts of money in monthly rent from a Government investment.
On other charges, Gumbo is accused of corruptly facilitating the awarding of a US$33,3 million tender to Indrastemas & Homt Espana of South Africa for air traffic control equipment without following the procurement procedure.
He allegedly authorised the company to supply the equipment to the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) without going to tender.
Also, Gumbo is accused of disregarding the decision of the CAAZ board to fire its general manager Mr David Chawota after finding he had awarded the air traffic control equipment contract to Indrastemas & Homt Espana without following laid down procedure.
On November 6, Gumbo, was supposed to appear in court but was recalled to ZACC headquarters as whistle-blowers levelled more allegations against the former Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister. The Chronicle
