Chimombe says Chivhayo dribbled him in ZEC electio...

Chimombe says Chivhayo dribbled him in ZEC election material deal, label Chivhayo

Oscar J Jeke

Zimbabwe businessman, Mike Chimombe, together with partners have raised alarm over a botched election material procurement deal, involving friend, Wicknell Chivhayo, who elbowed them out of the deal with an unidentified South African company, with the former giving the company seven days to come up with an amicable resolution to the matter.

According to Chimombe and one Moses Mpofu, they entered into an agreement with Chivhayo, using Pedzai ‘Scott’ Sakupwanya’s Better Brands company to procure election material on behalf of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

The two allege that after an agreement was entered, Chivhayo connived with the company to exclude Chimombe and partners from the deal, while also manipulating figures of the tender beyond the previous agreed figure.

It is reported that Chimombe, together with Better Brands company agreed to a 25% stake of the tender money that has not been paid, with allegations that Chivhayo’s recent car buying spree is coming from proceeds of the deal.

“We are writing to you in regard to an agreement entered into between Better Brands Security (Pvt) ltd and yourselves on the 13th of February 2023. Our agreement was to partner with you to participate in tenders in Zimbabwe for election materials. We have attached the contract for your reference. This was done after a meeting between Moses Mpofu, Wicknell Chivhayo, and the ZEC chairperson, Honourable Chigumba held at your premises in Johannesburg on the 2nd of February 2023.

“After we signed the contract under Better Brands, you conspired with one of our partners in the project, Mr. Wicknell Chivhayo, and unilaterally changed the contract to his company, Intratek. Our agreement stated that you would pay our agreed commission into the FNB account for Better Brands. However, for reasons known to you, you decided to cancel our agreement without the consent of both parties. The cancellation of that agreement was fraudulently done. We have attempted to engage with you on several times, but you have chosen to continue making payments to Mr. Wicknell Chivhayo.

“In this letter, we are writing to you in confidence to find a settlement. We have the invoice you have charged ZEC and are aware of the profits being made. For example, we are in possession of the initial quotation dated the 20th of February 2023, valued at US$2.673.360 with quotation no. Q20022023-211. Additionally, we have the subsequent quotation that you sent to ZEC, with the value inflated to US8.964.603.80 which is approximately a 235% increment,” the letter reads.

Chimombe also alleges that Chivhayo is greedy and has been lying about giving some the money to government officials and using the President’s name to get money which the latter is not aware of.

“Of interest , please note tht Mr. Wicknell Chivhayo is misleading you by claiming that he is giving top government officials of Zimbabwe part of the payment he is receiving. That is a total lie, even the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe is unaware that he is getting huge commissions using his name.

“We expect 25% of all the monies paid out to Wicknell Chivhayo. There is no need to cover up for one greedy individual and risk getting your company in trouble with the authorities because you are trying to protect one person,” warned Chimombe and Mpofu.

Chivhayo has been under public scrutiny over his car gifts to celebrities and ZANU PF officials, with the letter giving clarity and coming as evidence of shady deals the businessman is involved in.