The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture has launched a scathing attack on Prevail International a company linked to one of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s top advisors accusing it of failing to deliver on a flagship rural development scheme despite receiving huge sums of public money.
Prevail International owned by presidential advisor to the UAE Paul Tempter Tungwarara, was contracted to drill 10,000 boreholes and establish Village Business Units (VBUs) under the Presidential Rural Development Programme.
But MPs say many of the projects lie idle, leaving rural communities stranded without promised water and development opportunities.
During verification visits in Chivi District, Masvingo Province last week, the Committee accused the company of “window dressing” and grossly underperforming.
Rushinga MP Tendai Nyabani told the committee:
“In Rushinga Constituency we have the same problem with Prevail International all the sites are not working, not even a single drop of water since they drilled over a year ago. Government has put a lot of money in non-functional VBUs and the company is not cooperating,” Nyabani charged.
Marambapfungwe legislator Tichaona Karumazondo echoed the frustration.
“They promise to come after a week but never turn up. It’s been a year now and our VBUs are still not working,” he said.
Gokwe District MP Stephen Ngwenya went further accusing the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) of negligence:
“Is ZINWA monitoring these projects, or are they just sitting in their offices while taxpayers’ money is being wasted?” Ngwenya enquired.
Documents seen by this publication show that in Rushinga District, only three out of 42 VBUs are operational.
Local councillors in Chivi complained that villagers have been forced to pay for water connections and other amenities on projects that were supposedly fully funded by the government.
The scheme was launched by President Mnangagwa in 2021 aiming to benefit 1.8 million households and drive Vision 2030 targets.
But questions are now being raised over how the tender was awarded, amid allegations of inflated costs.
Sources within ZINWA allege that Prevail International charged the government more than US$16,000 per borehole compared to around US$6,000 from other service providers.
Despite these concerns, the company expanded in 2023 and 2024 with new trucks and solar panels to bolster its operations.
But MPs warn that unless urgent corrective action is taken, the multimillion-dollar programme risks becoming another expensive failure.
According to documents seen by this publication, currently Prevail International has failed to install or complete at least 600 Village Business Units across the country.
