ZIMPARKS staff suspended over procurement shenanig...

ZIMPARKS staff suspended over procurement shenanigans

Two senior officials of the Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority have been suspended pending investigations on allegations of procurement irregularities.

ZIMPARKS spokesperson Tinashe Farawo confirmed that Edmund Chirongedzo the Procurement Officer and Delia Mapuranga the Procurement Clerk were suspended effective July 21, 2023.

Tinashe Farawo - The Zimbabwe Independent — **Tinashe Farawo**

“The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority would like to confirm the suspension of Edmund Chirongedzo the Procurement Officer and Delia Mapuranga the Procurement Clerk, effective 21 July, 2023, pending investigations on allegations of procurement irregularities involving tampering with quotations in order to give advantage to certain suppliers among other malpractices.

“The suspension is in line with the Government’s drive to fight corruption within public entities,” said Farawo.

ZIMPARKS was thrust under the spotlight this week after a group of Small and Medium Enterprises accused the parastatal of threatening to cancel tenders awarded to them.

The group accused senior officials at ZIMPARKS of threatening to use their connections to cancel their tenders.

Small companies supply ZIMPARKS with supplies through tenders and Request for Quote (RFQ).

The SMEs accuse senior officials at ZIMPARKS of attempting to create a corrupt procurement system, allegations that Farawo has since refuted.

They wrote to the office of President and Cabinet registering their displeasure over the stalemate with ZIMPARKS.

“We also seek to bring to the President’s attention that the move by the parastatal is digressing from national policies on Youth and Women Empowerment.

“The move was communicated by Brian Mupandawana who visited all SMEs providing procurement services to the environment entity. We believe that a wave of corruption is now game of the day at the parastatal and this is now affecting the survival of our local businesses.

“We are kindly requesting our President through the responsible ministry to intervene on our behalf. We are living up to the Vision of the President in making Zimbabwe great using our own local SMEs”.

“Anyone who clamps down on Women and Youths is an enemy of the Second Republic and Vision 2030,” read the letter.