NORTON Town Council Director of Finance Stephen Tendaupenyu has been arrested by Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for alleged corrupt activities involving the acquisition of roller compactors for the local authority.
In a statement, ZACC spokesperson John Makamure said: “It is alleged that in 2017, Norton Town Council wanted to procure one roller compactor and it flighted tender number NOR/ROLL-01/2017 for the supply and delivery of a 12 tonne roller compactor.’
“Six companies responded to the tender after which an evaluation committee was selected to do an assessment of the company’s capacity to supply the roller compactor. The committee observed that one of the companies, Podilla Ventures did not have a workshop at the time of the visit and was scored the lowest in terms of the historical performance of the equipment offered.
“However on 25 August 2017, an adjudication process was done and Podilla Ventures won the tender but no contract or memorandum of agreement was signed,” Makamure said.
“A draft contract was prepared with the terms and conditions that Norton Town Council was supposed to pay upon delivery of the roller compactors. On 25 September a payment voucher for US$155 000,00 was raised for payment of two XCMG roller compactors. The voucher was not approved by the Town Secretary and neither was any contract signed between Norton Town Council and Podilla Ventures. “The two roller compactors have not yet been delivered by Podilla Ventures,” said Makamure.
Tendaupenyu appeared in court on 5 August 2021 at Norton Magistrates Court and was granted $30 000 bail on conditions.
A roller compactor is an engineering vehicle that is used to compact materials like soil, sand, gravel, or asphalt in the construction of roads or foundations.
