Findings from a PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report of ZESA released in January 2019 shows several cases of incidents where executives shortchanged the company for their own benefit. New energy minister Fortune Chasi is reported to have described the findings in the report as horrendous and frightening.
From The Sunday Mail:
Zesa, through Zent, signed four contracts with PME on November 26 2010 for materials for Glen Norah, Epworth, Mufakose and Greystone substations.
While Zent was supposed to make a down payment of US$6,2 million to PME, it reportedly overpaid by US$3,2 million, particularly at a time when the unit was experiencing cash flow problems.
PwC concluded that “by making the advance payment to PME in excess of the amount due by US$3 207 680 and taking into consideration that Zent had been experiencing cash flow problems in the period under review, this further worsened Zent’s cash flow position.”
It was also alleged that Zent paid PME US$11 million without purchase orders, in breach of Section 45 (c) of the Public Finance Management Act and the Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) between the two entities, which states that materials were to be supplied after a written request.
However, Zent managers who were interviewed by the PwC blamed Zesa’s group chief executive officer, Engineer Joshua Chifamba.
More: Sunday Mail