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*Chiefs In Vehicle Purchase Scam*

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The National Chiefs Council inflated prices for four Isuzu twin-cab trucks, with each vehicle gobbling about US$125 000 against a market value of between US$38 000 and US$70 000.

According to Auditor-General Mildred Chiri’s 2018 report, there was no paperwork to explain the excessive expenditure on the vehicles when the government had budgeted US$50 000 for each. The report said:

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> The exchange rate that was used was not specified. However, at the time of procuring the vehicles, the official exchange rate of ZWL to USD was one to one (US$1:ZWL$1).

> Therefore, the vehicles were purchased for a total value of US$499 999 with each vehicle costing US$125 000 and the supplier’s invoice dated October 29, 2018, quoted in US$, showed the total of US$499 999.

> The procurement was based on resolutions made on June 26, 2017, by the State Procurement Board (ref SPB/C/5) and an amount of US$50 500 was approved for each vehicle, giving a total of US$202 000 for the four
vehicles.

> The council, therefore, procured the vehicles at a cost that exceeded the authorised amount by US$297 000.

> No documentation was availed as authority to acquire the vehicles at a price higher than originally approved.

The report also says market analysis revealed that the price for the same vehicles ranged from US$38 000 to US$70 000 as of January 19, 2021. In its response, the Council of Chiefs said:

> The procuring unit was not fully operational and we used the running tender at CMED to urgently procure four vehicles for the outstanding chiefs who had been appointed.

> All procurement is now done through the PMU [Procurement Management Unit]. Please note that the price on the tender is US$50 025 on June 22, 2017, but the quoted price per vehicle on October 29, 2018, was RTGS$125 000, so the two cannot be compared.

*More: NewsDay*

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