Staff ReporterZimbabwe: Zimbabwe’s Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Paul Mavima, has been caught up in a US$400,000 corrupt property deal involving the National Social Security Authority (NSSA), which he oversees, according to an investigation by The NewsHawks. The upmarket property, located in Quinnington, Borrowdale, Harare, was purchased for US$400,000, despite being valued at US$350,000, with the excess amount allegedly siphoned off to private pockets. The transaction was reportedly carried out secretly, without due process or board approvals, and NSSA’s investment and properties director, Brian Murewa, is said to have acted outside his job description, violating Nssa policies and procedures, and usurping the powers of the general manager and the board.
Murewa is also implicated in another fraudulent transaction involving a commercial property in Kariba, which was bought for US$215,000 but sold to NSSA for US$244,000, with the excess amount also allegedly siphoned off. Murewa is currently on the run in South Africa, but is expected to appear before an internal disciplinary committee next week.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) is reportedly investigating the allegations, and some have accused the commission of letting other NSSA officials off the hook, including former general manager Arthur Manase, who was accused of corruption involving a US$750,000 housing loan. Mavima reportedly identified the Quinnington property and asked NSSA to buy and keep it for him while he awaited disbursement of his US$500,000 housing allowance given to each cabinet minister, but the property was not transferred to NSSA’s books before being sold to Mavima. NSSA has an investment portfolio of US$1.2 billion in various sectors of the economy, but the fund is reportedly seen as a cash cow by political and corporate vultures, with pensioners receiving only meager amounts.