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Nyore Madzianike-Senior Court Reporter

HARARE City Council’s projects superintendent, Asiyo Mkombeze, who was responsible for monitoring the roads rehabilitation programme is today expected to appear in court on allegations of lying to the local authority that Kelvin South Road in Graniteside had been refurbished when no work was done.

The misrepresentation prejudiced council of US$2 132 347.

The rehabilitation of Kelvin South Road was taken over by Government through the Central Mechanical Equipment Department (CMED) after the local authority failed.

Mkombeze, who initially appeared in court on Friday is expected to apply for bail when he appears before Harare regional magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje.

He was not asked to plead to the charges.

The State led by Mr Malvern Mapako alleges that sometime in 2017, City of Harare embarked on a roads rehabilitation programme.

Harare City Council contracted Fossil Construction Company to work on some of the roads, including Park Lane in the central business district.

Mkombeze was also overseeing the project, according to the State.

It is the State case that the contract between Fossil Construction and Harare City Council expired on December 31, 2019.

The court heard that at the end of June 2019, Mkombeze submitted to the chief compliance officer, Mr Abel Dzvuke, indicating that 15 percent of each project, including Kelvin South Road, had been completed.

On July 7, Mr Dzvuke accompanied by Mr Bisson Phiri, an auditor, undertook a physical inspection of the roads which Fossil Construction was refurbishing and discovered that no work had been done at Kelvin South Road.

Mkombeze is alleged to have misrepresented facts to council in a bid to extend Fossil Construction’s contract to rehabilitate the roads.

He was also alleged to have made the misrepresentation knowing that Fossil Construction was still rehabilitating Park Lane and Leopold Takawira Street.

Mkombeze was then arrested and taken to court charged with criminal abuse of office as a public officer.