FRESH corruption allegations have stung the permanent secretary for the District Development Fund (DDF) in the Office of the President and Cabinet, James Jonga, who has been fingered in a US$5 million tender scandal, Zim Morning Post can reveal.
This publication gleaned tender documents in which a local company, Podilla Ventures, won a tender to supply tractors to the DDF.
The consortium of local businessmen had a bank guarantee but DDF, at Jonga’s instigation, reversed the tender deal and allegedly awarded it to a cherry-picked company that had not even bid.
“The DDF director and former deputy secretary in the office of the President, Justin Mupamhanga, reversed and cancelled the tender deal with no valid and plausible reasons.
“It was awarded to a Chinese company which was handpicked by the two.
“Mupamhanga has links to tractor manucaturer John Deere and they have been spotted in secret meetings with the company’s managing director, Antois van Der Westhuzen,” explained our source.
Jonga, however, said everything was above board and the decision to reverse the tender award was reached after due diligence.
“To start with, the ownership of the company was dubious and unclear.
“The bank guarantee they talk of was from a fragile bank,” Jonga said.
Impeccable sources further alleged that Jonga sent falsified information to Cabinet about DDF tractor repairs and aftewards bought a luxury vehicle from the proceeds.
“Jonga bought a Mercedes Benz E class using DDF funds meant for road rehabilitation. The vehicle is hidden at his house.
“ DDF drivers redeem fuel coupons for cash at Zuva Service Station. They used to use Zuva Peacock Service Station along Samora, but stopped because of this scandal.
“They now redeem at Montagu Zuva and DDF drivers loyal to Jonga have become rich because of this fuel scandal.
“Jonga’s child got married at Leopard Rock, and DDF funded the Rockshade-hired coaches,” our source said.
Investigations also established that DDF bought a secondhand Toyota Landcruiser VX (Reg number ADV 7057) at an inflated price of US$85 000.
The car was allocated to Jonga’s nephew, Kingston Tapera, who is a junior employee at the parastatal.
Jonga recently made headlines following allegations of abuse of office, looting of the parastatal’s equipment and other underhand dealings.
Zim Morning Post reported that Jonga, who has been at the helm of the parastatal for more than two decades, has been abusing equipment, tillage and borehole facilities meant to benefit the poor.
He allegedly abused facilities and diverted equipment for personal use and is also fingered in some underhand dealings involving equipment hire from a handpicked company.
Investigations established that in 2014, Jonga requested US$400 000 from government, under the pretext that DDF did not have adequate equipment to offer tillage services to new farmers in the 2014-15 summer cropping season as the bulk of it needed repairs.
This publication could not immediately ascertain the exact amount that Treasury released to fund this request, but can authoritatively report that he took some of the equipment to his farm in the Selous farming area.
The equipment include bulldozers, tractors, lorries and dam scoopers.
“DDF has been milked until it broke.
“The equipment is meant for sustaining equitable rural development, but Jonga keeps the equipment at his farm and gives preference to his relatives to carry their maize and do other activities with it,” added our mole.
“At that material time when he made the request, DDF had 530 tractors. He claimed that only 102 were operational, with 236 requiring major repairs.
“He went on to claim that 192 had minor problems and that they had 402 ploughs but only 83 were functional, with 172 having major breakdowns and 147 with minor defects,” narrated our source.
Our moles on the ground confirmed that part of the equipment, including tractors and lorries, was still there and being used for his farming activities, in particular maize production.
Jonga himself confirmed the existence of such property at his farm but said there was nothing sinister since government officials were allowed to hire.
It is further alleged that Jonga was having underhand dealings with a company called Heingate owned by Danny Kasukuwere, a brother of former Zanu PF commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere.
“What they do is hire a contractor that he handpicked.
“It’s called Heingate and it provides the same services that they have the capacity to carry out, arguing that the DDF equipment has defects.
“In actual fact, this so called defects are minor and it would be cheaper to repair.
“They then inflate the hiring fees and share the spoils with other members of the syndicate.
“This has been happening for long, no wonder why this man is one of the richest man in the country, but he is clever and takes a back seat.
“I can put it to you that in 1998 when Mai Mujuru was still in charge of his parent ministry, he was already driving an American imported Chevloret.
“Explain how a civil servant can afford such luxury,” explained our source.
Jonga is also accused of pampering his boss, Chief Secretary Misheck Sibanda by diverting equipment to his farm in Kwekwe.
