Chimombe, Mpofu remanded in custody for a second day

ZANU-PF central committee member Mike Chimombe and alleged accomplice Moses Mpofu, who face US$7 million fraud charges over the Presidential Goat Scheme, were remanded in custody for a second day after the bail hearing in Harare did not conclude.

The matter continues Friday before magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa.

The duo is being represented by Ashwell Mugiya and Tapson Dzvetero.

Prosecutor Anesu Chirenje revealed that in 2021, the government launched the Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme as part of the Rural Development Agenda to alleviate poverty among less-privileged households in Zimbabwe's 10 provinces. The goal was to purchase over 600,000 special goat breeds for these households and village heads.

The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries, and Rural Development was tasked with implementing the program. On September 3, 2021, the government issued a tender for the supply and delivery of the goats, with a closing date of September 17, 2021.

Four companies submitted bids: Kotrum Enterprises (Pvt) Limited, Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming, Millytake Enterprises (Pvt) Limited, and Zvikomborero Farms (Pvt) Limited. Chirenje alleged that Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu conspired to forge a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) tax clearance certificate for Blackdeck, which they included in their bid, despite knowing that Blackdeck was not registered and lacked a valid certificate.

Investigations revealed that the QR code and reference number on the forged certificate were issued to Skywalk Investments. Additionally, Blackdeck had been deregistered from the National Social Security Authority (Nssa) system since January 8, 2016, and had never received a Zimra tax clearance certificate for 2021.

Believing the forged documents were legitimate, the ministry awarded the contract to Blackdeck on November 3, 2021, for the supply and delivery of 632,001 goats, valued at US$87,757,168. A contract was signed on November 16, 2021, with Mpofu representing Blackdeck and Tinashe Chimombe as a witness. The ministry agreed to make a 30% advance payment to Blackdeck, transferring ZWL$901,294,200 and ZWL$698,705,800 on April 21 and June 29, 2022, respectively, totaling ZWL$1.6 billion (US$7,712,197.10).

However, after repeated delays in goat deliveries, ministry officials demanded the promised goats. Chimombe and Mpofu falsely claimed they had mobilized 32,500 goats ready for distribution. When the ministry verified these claims, they found only 3,713 goats. As a result, the contract was canceled on August 29, 2022.

Further investigations revealed that Chimombe and Mpofu had supplied only 208 goats worth US$331,445.25 out of the US$7,712,197.10 paid by the ministry, and they had misappropriated the remaining US$7,380,751.85.