Incarcerated business partners Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe have revealed in court that a significant portion of the US$40 million tender awarded to Wicknell Chivayo for the supply of election materials was funneled to unnamed government officials. The revelations came during a High Court session on Tuesday, where the duo sought to expose the alleged corruption surrounding the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) tender.
Mpofu and Chimombe, who were arrested in June on charges related to the Presidential Goat Scheme, claimed that they were being persecuted for leaking audio recordings that exposed the irregularities in the ZEC tender process. The tender, awarded to Chivayo’s company, Intratrek Zimbabwe Pvt Ltd, was intended for the supply of ballot papers for the 2023 harmonized elections.
During their testimony, Mpofu and Chimombe stated that Chivayo had informed them that the funds from the tender would not be distributed equally. Instead, the bulk of the money was allegedly allocated to “his people in government.” This claim was supported by their lawyer, Ashiel Mugiya, who argued that the duo had been unfairly targeted for their whistleblowing efforts.
Mpofu recounted a meeting with Chivayo where the payment modalities were discussed. He stated, “When we had a meeting with Chivayo on the payment modalities, he told us that the money was not going to be shared equally. He said the bulk of the money was supposed to go to his people in government, and we were not going to get a fair share.”
The duo further accused the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) of selective prosecution. They claimed that while they were charged with fraud over the Presidential Goat Scheme, they were never interviewed about the ZEC tender issue.