Wallen Tawanda Mangere

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Wallen Tawanda Mangere

Wallen Tawanda Mangere is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur and the owner of Tano Digital Solutions (TDS) which they hired to do some work for them without going through the tender board.

There were several reports that Mangere was wanted in the United States for fraud. He denied he was incarcerated in the United States of America or that he has a criminal record. The Fulton County Magistrates’ Court in Georgia also confirmed Mangere was never convicted of any crime in the United States.

Education

According to his LinkedIn profile, Wallen Mangere holds a Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology and a Masters Degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Phoenix. [1]

Businesses

Mangere owns Tano Digital Solutions which is a South African registered company. The other company's director is Mmamatshaba Lettie Makgopela.[2]

He is also the director of Matipa Consulting which is also registered in South Africa.[3]

Tano Digital Solutions

On 3 May 2021, The Herald reported that Tano Digital Solutions had won the System Analysis Programme (SAP) Rookie of The Year Award for 2020 (Africa) for providing cutting edge solutions to various corporates as firms adjust to the new normal due to Covid-19 restrictions. Coincidentally, Tano partnered SAP in 2019.[4]

TDS entered the Zimbabwean Market in 2019. According to Mangere, TDS has a big client base, including Delta Beverages, Great Dyke Investments, Tobacco Processors Zimbabwe, Zimasco and the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company.[5]

Career

Mangere worked for SAP South Africa as a Consulting Director before Joining IBM as an executive responsible for Global Markets. He denied reports that he was fired from SAP South Africa for falsifying travel claims.[6]

He also worked for Sybase as a Consulting Director and was the SADC Regional Sales Director for Oracle from January 2019 to September 2020. He the Head of Sales for inq. digital from February to April 2021.[1]

Zimdef IT Tender

Mangere's company reportedly failed to deliver a key enterprise planning (ERP) project for Zimdef within the agreed three-month deadline in 2021 which forced Zimdef to halt the deal. Questions were however raised on how Mangere's company passed the vetting process when his name has in the past been splashed on social media channels accused of fraud.

Sources who spoke to ZimLIve said Zimdef did not go to tender but instead nominated TDS to supply the service which was aimed at implementing a dual currency pricing system.

After hiring TDS for the project, Zimdef allegedly failed to invoice in both foreign and local currency from January 2021 resulting in delays to its monthly accounts and management of debtors.

TDS fell well behind schedule that Zimdef had to hire another IT company to finish the job despite having paid TDS in full.

ZimLive could not get hold of Zimdef officials but in an interview with the Herald in April 2021, its chief executive, Sebastian Marume defended TDS and said they were just affected by Covid-19. He said:

"It’s not true that Tano did not have capacity. It was a challenge of remote working because of the lockdown. With remote working, the situation is that you are providing them with the information to implement because they are not on site. By the moment they are on the ground, it takes them only three hours to complete the job. The company we engaged is authorised by the parent German company to provide the SAP software that were required. However, we could not dually invoice after the advent of the multi-currency regime. We engaged this company in December after all due processes were followed, but work was affected by the lockdown.”

ZimLive reported that some government officials were pushing for Zimdef to sue TDS while Zimdef officials remained steadfast that TDS had done nothing wrong.[7]

Two weeks before the report by ZimLive, Business Times had reported that Mangere's company had successfully completed the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef) SAP Dual pricing project despite delays caused by the Covid-19 induced lockdowns. The report also stated that Tano Digital had completed the project within the agreed timelines with Zimdef.[6]

Alleged Fraud Charge

Wallen Tawanda Mangere mugshot

There were reports that Wallen Mangere was wanted in Georgia, United States for deposit fraud.[7] He denied reports that he was incarcerated in the United States of America or that he has a criminal record despite a mugshot of him doing the rounds on social media.

Mangere said:

"That is factually incorrect. I have no criminal record and I was never incarcerated in the United States of America. I was also never fired from SAP South Africa. I left SAP amicably to pursue a new career. This can be verified by calling SAP or conducting a criminal background check on myself."

[6]

In May 2021, NewsDay contacted Bryant Brinson, a supervisor at the Fulton County Magistrates’ Court in Georgia who confirmed that Mangere was never convicted of any crime in the United States.

Mangere was detained for about 90 minutes. A case was opened against him on March 17, 2010, under case No 308457MC.

Nicole Vaughn, director for customer service at the Fulton County District Attorney’s office also said there were no open cases on Mangere. According to a document received from Fulton court, Mangere was charged for deposit account fraud (felony), but the case was dismissed. [8]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Wallen Mangere, LinkedIn, Published: No Date Given, Retrieved: May 18, 2021
  2. TANO DIGITAL SOLUTIONS, b2bhint.com, Published: No Date Given, Retrieved: May 18, 2021
  3. MATIPA CONSULTING, b2bhint.com,Published: No Date Given, Retrieved: May 18, 2021
  4. Zim ICT firm wins award . . . named SAP rookie of the year for Covid-19 solutions, The Herald, Published: May 3, 2021, Retrieved: May 18, 2021
  5. Brian Chitemba, ‘Producing ICT goods critical to cut business costs for Zim’, The Zimbabwe Independent, Published: May 7, 2021, Retrieved: May 18, 2021
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Tano Digital Solutions completes Zimdef project, Business Times, Published: May 14, 2021, Retrieved: May 18, 2021
  7. 7.0 7.1 PRINCE MACHAYA, US fraud rap haunts Zimdef’s fugitive IT contractor as key project stalls, ZimLive, Published: May 17, 2021, Retrieved: May 18, 2021
  8. MIRIAM MANGWAYA, US court exonerates Zim ‘fugitive’ businessman, NewsDay, Published: May 21, 2021, Retrieved: May 24, 2021

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