Michael Chideme Municipal Reporter
One of the major water treatment chemical suppliers for Harare City Council has been struck off the suppliers’ list and blacklisted for an unspecified period. MT and N, owned by Mr Alex Mashamhanda, has also been banned from doing business with council on any other matter. The firm is accused of the wrongful delivery of the poisonous sodium cyanide to the city’s water treatment plant last month.
It is also accused of delivering another wrong consignment of salt to the water plant last year instead of aluminum sulphate.
MT and N won the tender to supply granular aluminum sulphate. A mix-up at the freight company contracted to transport the aluminum sulphate resulted in the wrongful delivery. The team that investigated the delivery of the cyanide confirmed the blameworthiness of the freight company but also noted that Mr Mashamhanda did not show remorse during investigations.
Local authorities have also been banned from procuring water treatment chemicals from middlemen and to deal directly with the exception of chlorine gas.
The Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Ignatius Chombo announced yesterday that Mr Mashamhanda and his companies had been banned and blacklisted from trading with Harare City Council.
The ruling follows the report by the team led by Mr Madzudzo Pawadyira that investigated the delivery of sodium cyanide to Morton Jaffray on July 24.
Minister Chombo immediately announced the setting up of another team to investigate the awarding of all major tenders at Harare City following reports that some of the tenders were fraudulently awarded with councillors and officials benefiting.
“I am going to put together a committee to investigate all key tenders awarded by the city to determine whether they were fraudulently awarded and to determine whether councillors and officials did not enrich themselves,” he said.