“We are now in control here,” a senior staffer at the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) headquarters in Avondale, Harare was heard saying to a junior officer.
The remarks were made after the top brass at the ZRCS purged workers deemed to be hardliners in order to address what the management cited as “operational and governance challenges”.
Over the last two years, scores of workers at the humanitarian organisation have been fired willy-nilly as power politics took centre stage at the humanitarian organisation, investigations carried by Truth Diggers have revealed.
Truth Diggers is the investigative journalism unit under Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), publishers of the NewsDay, The Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard and Southern Eye.
AMH also operates an online television and radio station, Heart and Soul.
As part of power dynamics, the top brass at the ZRCS was heavily involved in the chaotic election of a new board in a move meant to influence the outcome last December.
Truth Diggers investigations revealed that the management led by secretary-general Elias Hwenga, legal advisor and board member Wellington Magaya and former President Edson Mlambo allegedly colluded with ZRCS provincial managers to improperly influence the outcome of the elections from the branch, district and provincial elections.
They are accused of employing a number of dirty tactics and a host of other election rigging strategies to win elections that ushered in their “preferred” board members into office.
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A new ZRCS board led by David Chaliyanika was elected in December last year during the organisation's general assembly held in Kariba.
Other members of the new board include Emmaculate Chuma (vice-president), Bennard Sharara (vice-president) and Paradzayi Dakwa (honourary treasurer).
Chaliyanika took over from Mlambo, who had served two terms.
“The reason why they were heavily involved in the election was to maintain the status-quo and continue looting,” an insider told Truth Diggers.
“A new board would have changed the way the organisation operates.
“The new president is from Binga and that was strategically done to give room for looting at head office.”
Truth Diggers established that Mlambo failed to rein in the management at the ZRCS headquarters as he was one of the biggest beneficiaries.
It is alleged that the former president took all the salon equipment after the mysterious closure of the ZRCS salon — Red Lounge, which was located at the Red Cross House along Cameroon Street in Harare.
Apart from benefiting from the salon equipment, Mlambo is accused of failing to ensure ZRCS’s compliance with laws and regulations.
Contacted for comment last Thursday, Mlambo said he was no longer with the ZRCS and referred this publication to the new president.
Investigations revealed that Mlambo’s board did not play its role of overseeing the strategy, direction and performance of the ZRCS, which gave room to systematic looting of public funds through procurement corruption, ghost projects, overpricing and inflation of contracts as well as lack of transparency and accountability.
While the ZRCS board and management portrayed themselves as having developed vigorous approaches to address previous operational challenges, the organisation lost several thousands of dollars through procurement corruption involving the top management, investigation revealed.
Truth Diggers established that as part of organisational reforms, in 2023, the ZRCS’s information management officer (IMO) proposed the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) facility, an online platform that integrates organisational functions of the ZRCS into a single system.
“The idea was to streamline processes and transition the organisation to a paperless environment that saw the IMO engaging with several vendors to obtain quotes for the ERP system,” a source said.
“One of the vendors, Horlobyte, provided a quote of US$25 800 and other major ERP providers, included Total Retail and Gartridge Solutions.”
As a pilot project, all vendors were encouraged to submit their proposals in response to the tender advertisement that had been published.
Truth Diggers established that during the selection process, irregularities emerged that saw other vendors being inexplicably excluded for consideration despite tendering their submissions.
“Horlobyte was ultimately awarded the contract, but surprisingly, upon initiating the engagement, the IMO, who was the technical expert, raised concerns about the process and he was removed as the focal person for the project,” said a source.
It is alleged that a payment of US$64 000 was made to Horlobyte, significantly higher than the initial quote of US$25 800, Truth Diggers established.
Investigations revealed that Horlobyte has been charging outrageous costs including hosting fees of US$5 000 and would charge US$200 per hour for every visit during the first stages in 2023.
“As of April 2024, the organisation had paid a total of US$120 000 to Horlobyte, funded by partner contributions,” said a source.
“Despite this significant expenditure, the ERP system remains largely non-functional, with the exception of the receipting module.”
Investigations established that Horlobyte’s contract expired at the end of 2023, but the company is still ‘illegally’ contracted to ZRCS.
“Horlobyte are still domiciled at the ZRCS headquarters and are now doing IT for the national society,” said a source.
“The British Red Cross at some point rejected their VMS request because it was only an invoice without a quotation.”
The directorship of Horlobyte remains a mystery although Sam Tafirenyika Mazai and Shelter Nyasha Sigumbu front the company at the ZRCS headquarters.
Walter Shereni, who is believed to be one of the directors, is said to be based in Uganda.
Currently, Horlobyte is charging ZRCS US$800 per day as consultation fees.
“Apart from providing IT support services, Horlobyte is also among major companies getting ZRCS tenders,” said an insider.
“The irregularities in the vendor selection process, the inflated costs, the lack of functionality, and the sidelining of the IMO raise serious concerns about potential corruption and mismanagement of funds in this project.”
When contacted for comment Sigumbu said she was not authorised to do so.
“I am sorry, I am not authorised to talk on ZRCS issues,” she said.
Heylinks, a company believed to be owned by ZRCS’s human resources director, Geshum Hombarume, was given a tender to print first aide and nurse aide certificates.
There has been a proliferation of agencies and institutions in the country purporting to offer nurse aide and first aid training due to the high demand of trained healthcare workers in Europe, Australia and the United States.
Some of the agencies and institutions were duping unsuspecting Zimbabweans claiming they were accredited with the ZRCS.
Several ZRCS workers have been fired over the years for printing fake first aide and nurse aide certificates, giving room to Heylink to win the contract.
ZRCS is among a handful of organisations that have been offering internationally-recognised nurse aid and first aid certificates.
Several visits by Truth Diggers to Heylinks offices at Number 28, Ascot, Avondale West in Harare proved that there was no activity as the property gates were locked.
The company’s contact numbers are South African while the QR codes of the certificates of the entity are linked to Hombarume, investigations revealed.
It was established that Heylinks contract does not have the approval of the board
Hombarume is also accused of illegally facilitating the purchase of a Haval model vehicle from Zimoco on April 6, 2023 without a comparative bid analysis and board approval.
The car worth US$38 000 was bought for the organisation’s finance director, Pedzisai Mukora, who is allegedly Hombarume’s wife, sources said.
Truth Diggers also established that a Toyota Landcruiser single cab vehicle which was bought in 2022 by the ZRCS was transferred to Hwenga for personal use without board resolution.
A large chuck of workers at the ZRCS had their contracts terminated while others’ contracts were not renewed over the last four years. Among those shown their marching orders were four provincial managers, who are yet to be replaced, Truth Diggers established.
Currently, four provincial managers, who are believed to be allied to the top brass, are overseeing eight provincial offices of the ZRCS.
The four managers were allegedly instrumental in the sham elections at branch, district and provincial levels.
“Anyone whom they deem to be against them is fired,” said a source.
We contacted Hwenga on Friday and he said the allegations of mismanagement and looting at the ZRCS were not true.
“It’s all false. Thank you,” he said.
Hombarume did not answer questions sent to him, and he was also not picking calls.
Mlambo said he was no longer with the ZRCS and therefore could not comment.
