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Energy Mutodi

Fungai Lupande Court Reporter
A senior Government official who lost US$2 655 in a housing scam has accused businessman and musician Energy Mutodi of jeopardising her chances of owning a house in Harare.
Director for Epidemiology and Disease Control in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Portia Manangazira told a Harare magistrate on Friday last week that Mutodi left her vulnerable.

“I have been commuting from Marondera to Harare since 2006 and I do not own a house in Harare. When I heard about the housing scheme in 2011, I jumped for it since it was through our ministry,” she said.

“I no longer have any confidence in housing schemes coming through our ministry and I feel very vulnerable. The accused jeopardised my chances of owning a house and my time invested has been lost.”

Dr Manangazira was testifying as the 13th witness in a case in which Mutodi is jointly charged with Boniface Chikono for duping clients US$588 000 through their National Housing Delivery Trust company.

She said she was introduced to Mutodi’s housing scheme three years ago at her offices and she selected Marimba Park and was allocated stand number 1421 after paying US$50 allocation fee plus US$130 for six months.

Nothing materialised from the deal.
“After meetings were conducted we discovered that all was not well and I later asked Salary Service Bureau (SSB) to stop deductions,” she said.
Prosecutor Mr Michael Reza intends to call 400 witnesses.

Mr Reza stated that when the National Housing Delivery Trust was formed, Mutodi and Chikono opened a Kingdom Bank account number 49034067.
They went on to apply for a deduction code with the SSB which was granted with code number 47453.

Civil servants paid through the SSB while other people paid cash.
A total of US$588 787 was paid into the account.

It is alleged that the accused converted the money to personal use.
The victims reported the matter to the police leading to the pair’s arrest.

Investigations revealed that the accused did not own stands in Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Gweru and Mutare.
Only US$3 585 was recovered.