Three top Hurungwe Rural District Council (RDC) officials have been handed a combined 174-year prison sentence after the High Court found them guilty of defrauding the council of over US$65,000 intended for critical infrastructure projects.
Council chief executive officer, Luke Kalavina received 36 years, while the council’s engineer Romeo Mupamaonde and his assistant Alfred Makama were each sentenced to 52 years for four counts of fraud.
The rulings rank among the toughest ever imposed on public officials in Zimbabwe.
Investigations by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) revealed that the trio siphoned funds through fraudulent construction claims and the diversion of building materials.
According to court documents, the officials falsely claimed that Marloshac Investments, a private company, had constructed the Kaspikiri Causeway Bridge and authorised over US$18,000 in payments to the company, while the actual builder, local contractor Kainos Mupiwa, was never paid.
The officials also diverted US$3,889 worth of plumbing materials intended for Chiedza Clinic to personal projects and falsely claimed the company had built ablution facilities at the same clinic, costing the council another US$6,075.
Additional materials worth US$8,501 procured from a company owned by one of the accused were never delivered.
In total, Hurungwe RDC lost US$47,266.21, none of which has been recovered.
Marloshac Investments director Marvin Matiza was convicted on two counts of fraud and sentenced to 36 years in prison.
Mupamaonde and Makama were also convicted in an earlier case with Batsirayi Nyamayaro, director of Anstand Investments (Pvt) Ltd, for defrauding the council of US$17,990 meant for the Chehoko Causeway Bridge.
While the bridge was completed by Mupiwa with community support, Nyamayaro and the officials diverted the majority of the funds, paying Mupiwa only US$1,450.
The trio received 18-year jail terms, with three years suspended on good behaviour. Each was fined US$5,000, and Anstand Investments faced the same fine, with the court authorising property seizure if unpaid.
Kalavina, while acquitted of the Chehoko case, was convicted on the Kaspikiri and Chiedza Clinic fraud counts.
Following the verdicts, Remigio Makuwerere, the council’s social services officer, was appointed acting chief executive officer.
Hurungwe RDC is Zimbabwe’s second-largest rural district, after Makoni in Manicaland.
