The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has arrested Umguza Community Share Ownership Trust administrator Tinashe Manjeru over allegations of fraud and criminal abuse of duty in a case involving the looting of over US$20 000 of Trust funds which were proceeds from borehole drilling.
An alternative charge of abuse of duty as a public officer has also been added. ZACC spokesman Commissioner John Makamure confirmed the matter.
“ZACC arrested Tinashe Manjeru, the administrator for Umguza Community Share Ownership Trust, for fraud and criminal abuse of duty. The case against Manjeru is that he received US$23 670 from several Umguza Borehole Drilling Services clients for drilling boreholes.
“Instead of depositing the money into the Umguza Share Ownership Trust’s bank account, Manjeru generated fake receipts and then converted the money to his personal use. He has since appeared in court and was remanded out of custody to 20 September 2021,” he said.
Manjeru (50) of 4 Bubi Avenue in Richmond, Bulawayo appeared before city magistrate Ms Nomagugu Sindisiwe Maphosa at the Tredgold Magistrates Courts. According to State papers Manjeru was employed by as the District Development Officer in the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture.
“He was carrying out the duties of the administrator of Umguza Community Share Ownership Trust when he committed the crime during the period extending from August 2020 to May 2021.
‘His duties included inter alia, attending to clients, preparing borehole drilling schedules, receiving money as payments for drilling boreholes from clients and making payments on behalf of the Trust in terms of their Financial Policies and Procedures Manual,” part of the State papers read.
The Trust operates a profit-based Borehole Drilling Service.
“An official receipt book used with folio numbers and a carbon copy that remains in the book after the original is issued to the clients when they pay for the services to be rendered. The accused avoided to use this receipt book for unknown reasons.”
According to section 14 of the Financial Policies and Procedures Manual for Umguza Community Share Ownership
Trust, all received money or funds should be receipted and banked at the Trust’s CBZ account as soon as possible while expenditures including salaries should not be made from any undeposited receipts.
The fund was to be used for Umguza Community Development and other mandate expenses as inscribed in the Deed of the Trust.
“The accused was supposed to bank the money into either a Foreign Currency Account (FCA) or the local RTGS account which the Trust operates at CBZ but instead kept the money in his custody and went on to generate, from his computer, some artificial receipts as payment vouchers with no folio numbers for authenticity.
The case of fraud came to light after a report was made to ZAAC Bulawayo and investigations were instituted resulting in the discovery that the money could not be accounted for and the accused was arrested,” the State noted.
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