The Zimbabwe Gazette

Unity Gala hangs in the balance

Wednesday, 28 November 2007

The Unity Gala that is supposed to be held on the 21st of December hangs in the balance following revelations that no
one has been appointed to take over from the five organisers who are in court on allegations of fraud.
{mosgoogle} The state-sponsored musical extravaganza is held annually to mark Unity Day that is celebrated on
December 22nd to commemorate the merging of Zanu PF and PF Zapu on that date in 1987. Five people from the
Ministry of Information and Publicity who were in the organising team were arrested after the Mzee Bira that was held in
Beitbridge on September 14th after allegedly defrauding the state of more than half a billion dollars. The five, Gala Co-
ordinator, Mavis Gumbo (43), Finance Director Dereck Sibanda (43), Ketty Tom (68) Chief Accountant, Thulani Sandla
(29) and Ananaitia Masvikeni (31) accused of defrauding the State of $508 million during the Mzee Bira. They have
appeared before Beitbridge Magistrate Jabulani Muzanyathi twice and have been remanded out of custody on $3 million
bail each. The five were also suspended pending the outcome of the case but it has emerged that no team has yet been
appointed to take over yet the upcoming gala is less than a month away. Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity
Bright Matonga said they were still consulting with other stakeholders but could not give details of the preparations of the
upcoming gala. It is the state’s case that between September 3rd and 14th this year, the accused persons
fraudulently raised contracts of quotations from several service providers for food and accommodation for artistes who
performed at the event. They then submitted Real Time Gross Settlement forms with inflated values different from those
appearing on the quotations for payment. The State stood to lose $508 770 000 in the process. The issue came to light
when a man employed by Copy World Publishers, a company contracted by the ministry to print the tickets for the Bira,
was arrested in Beitbridge. The man had printed his own batch of tickets that were not validated by the organisers and
took them to Beitbridge during the day of the Bira. He approached a ministry official to sell the tickets on his behalf. The
official then alerted his superiors and a trap was set leading to George Mandizha's arrest. An anti-corruption team was
sent to Beitbridge to investigate the matter. The five were subsequently arrested following the investigations. Now they
are on suspension and there is no one to administer the Unity Gala to commemorate Unity Day. Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu PF forged unity with late Joshua Nkomo’s PF Zapu after a series of tribal clashes that saw
thousands of people being murdered by the notorious Five Brigade in Matebeleland and Midlands provinces.

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