ZIMPARKS Suspends Two Senior Officials Over Procurement Irregularities Allegations

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZIMPARKS) has suspended two senior officials, Edmund Chirongedzo, the Procurement Officer, and Delia Mapuranga, the Procurement Clerk, effective July 21, 2023, pending investigations into allegations of procurement irregularities.

The suspension follows accusations of tampering with quotations to give favoured suppliers an advantage. ZIMPARKS spokesperson, Tinashe Farawo said:

The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority would like to confirm the suspension of Edmund Chirongedzo the Procurement Officer and Delia Mapuranga the Procurement Clerk, effective 21 July, 2023, pending investigations on allegations of procurement irregularities involving tampering with quotations in order to give advantage to certain suppliers among other malpractices. The suspension is in line with the Government’s drive to fight corruption within public entities.

ZIMPARKS had earlier been accused by a group of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of threatening to cancel tenders awarded to them. The SMEs supply ZIMPARKS with supplies through tenders and Request for Quote (RFQ), and have accused senior officials at ZIMPARKS of attempting to create a corrupt procurement system. The SMEs had written to the office of the President and Cabinet expressing their concerns over the matter. Reads the letter:

We also seek to bring to the President’s attention that the move by the parastatal is digressing from national policies on Youth and Women Empowerment.

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The move was communicated by on Brian Mupandawana who visited all SMEs providing procurement services to the environment entity. We believe that a wave of corruption is now game of the day at the parastatal and this is now affecting the survival of our local businesses.

We are kindly requesting our President through the responsible ministry to intervene on our behalf. We are living up to the Vision of the President in making Zimbabwe great using our own local SMEs, hence “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo”. Anyone who clamps down on Women and Youths is an enemy of the Second Republic and Vision 2030.

Tinashe Farawo has denied the accusations made by the SMEs that senior officials at ZIMPARKS were attempting to create a corrupt procurement system.

Corruption and tender scandals have been a recurring issue in government parastatals in Zimbabwe. The Auditor General often reports corrupt activities in the awarding of tenders and procurement processes, with some senior officials being implicated in the scandals. These scandals have resulted in financial losses for the government and have undermined the public’s trust in the institutions. 

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