Mandiwanzira says $200 000 car loan was above board

On June 23, The Source, quoting the Auditor General’s report for 2015, reported that the Ministry of ICT, Posts and Courier Services had used money from the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) to buy vehicles for Minister Supa Mandiwanzira and his Deputy, Win Mlambo without Treasury concurrence.

The Minister admits to this. In the interest of the right to reply, below is Minister Mandiwanzira’s response to our report:

 Anyone suggesting that I borrowed money from POTRAZ for my personal use either does not know how government functions or they are part of a dirty political campaign against me.

First the accounting officer for any Ministry is the Permanent Secretary, and he or she is the one responsible for anything and everything to do with money.

Secondly, the suggestion that borrowing of money from parastatals from the ministry, through the Permanent Secretary, is abuse of office is totally incorrect.

It is now common government practice that the Office of the President and Cabinet authorises ministries to borrow from their parastatals to keep the ministries functional.

In the case of my Ministry, it received written authority from the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda to purchase two condition of service vehicles for the Minister and another for the Deputy Minister.

Treasury concurrence was sought from the Ministry of Finance by the Chief Secretary and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of ICT Eng Sam Kundishora.

The documentary evidence is available for all to see.

The money that was spent for the vehicles is within the limits that were prescribed by the Ministry of Finance through the Office of the President and Cabinet. And again all the proof of disbursements is available for all who want to see.- The Source

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