Binga Fishing Rig Scandal: Council Official Arrested in US$256,000 Fraud Probe

Zim Now Reporter

A Binga Rural District Council executive officer has been arrested in connection with an alleged US$256,405 fraud involving a Government-funded project to construct fishing rigs in the district, in a case implicating a local legislator and the council’s chief executive officer.

Lovemore Siamuyi, 54, the council’s executive officer responsible for social services, was arrested on November 10 and is being held at Binga Police Station. He is expected to appear before the Binga Magistrates’ Court on November 12 for initial remand.

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission memorandum alleges that Siamuyi acted alongside Binga North legislator Chineka Muchimba and Binga Rural District Council chief executive officer Joshua Muzamba in a scheme that allegedly deprived three companies of payments due to them under the fishing-rig project.

The complainants are Lweendo Ndulamfu Fisheries (Private) Limited, Twiite Cooperative Society and Zangalili Better Investments.

The project was introduced in 2021 by the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), through the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, for the fabrication of 21 fishing rigs in Binga, with the rural district council designated as the implementing authority.

According to the memorandum, the Ministry instructed the council to source contractors, but Muzamba allegedly approached Muchimba and tasked him with finding suppliers, an arrangement ZACC says was “contrary to the procurement procedures”.

The commission alleges that the council neither went to tender nor sought an exemption from the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe.

Muchimba, who was then involved in rig fabrication, allegedly approached the three complainants and told them that he had been tasked by central Government to “facilitate and coordinate the rig fabrication project”.

He requested their company documents, which he allegedly said would enable him to facilitate the awarding of contracts. The documents were subsequently submitted to the Ministry alongside those of two other companies in which Muchimba was allegedly a co-director.

In September 2021, the companies were invited to Harare to finalise contracts and receive initial payments. At the OPC offices in Munhumutapa Building, each of the three complainants was allegedly paid US$15,250 in cash for the construction of five rigs.

Muchimba also received US$30,500 as the representative of his two companies.

The memorandum says Muchimba directed all the companies to commence work as a group from premises belonging to him. The first batch was completed, but “the funds were exhausted and no surplus remained as their profit”.

The commission alleges that Muchimba subsequently told the other companies that authorities had directed that all project money be channelled through one account because they did not have Nostro accounts.

He allegedly induced them to depose affidavits authorising payments into his personal Nostro account.

Muzamba then allegedly informed the OPC that Muchimba “would collect the money on behalf of the other companies”, a representation which the memorandum says the Government office accepted.

On October 18, 2021, the OPC allegedly gave Muchimba US$76,250 in cash to pass on to the other contractors. Instead, he allegedly kept the money and used it for himself.

Siamuyi is accused of subsequently writing to the OPC, misrepresenting that Muchimba had distributed the money to the companies, despite allegedly knowing that the complainants had not received their payments.

The companies were later informed by Muchimba and Siamuyi that they had been disqualified from the project because their papers were allegedly not in order.

However, on November 3, 2021, Muchimba and Muzamba allegedly returned to the OPC seeking additional payments, claiming that the earlier disbursements were insufficient.

The memorandum alleges that Muzamba, working in cahoots with Siamuyi, told the OPC that the five companies had been underpaid and required a top-up.

The OPC subsequently released another US$56,750 in cash to Muchimba, who was entrusted with handing it over to the other contractors. But, according to the memorandum, he “never told them he had received it and never accounted for any part of it”.

The allegations extend to March 2023, when an OPC employee, Paul Mutunzi, allegedly deposited a further US$123,405 into Muchimba’s AFC Commercial Bank foreign-currency account for the same companies and Binga fisheries project.

The memorandum alleges that Muchimba continued receiving project funds while representatives of the other companies were excluded from the project. The accused allegedly misrepresented to the OPC that the five companies were still working on the rigs and that Muchimba would hand over the money to the complainants.

The complainants eventually became suspicious of Muchimba’s claim that they had been disqualified and approached the OPC. They were allegedly informed that their contracts remained valid and that Muchimba had been receiving payments purportedly on their behalf.

They reported the matter to ZACC in July 2026, with the commission’s memorandum putting their combined financial prejudice at US$256,405.

Siamuyi was arrested on November 10 and is expected to appear in court on November 12 for initial remand.