HARARE – Allied Timbers CEO Daniel Simbisai Sithole was charged with corruption on Wednesday after he allegedly handpicked a company that was granted a $64,000 tender.
Sithole was charged together with his procurement manager, Justice Chimusaro.
They appeared before Harare magistrate Victoria Mashamba facing two counts of criminal abuse of office.
Sithole and Chimusaro were released on $2,000 bail each coupled with stringent reporting conditions which will see them reporting twice a week at the police.
They will be back in court on November 13.
According to court papers, Sithole was also the accounting officer for Allied Timbers.
The duties of the two included procuring of goods and other services in accordance with the Procurement Act.
Prosecuting, Linda Gadzikwa alleged that on January 28, Allied Timbers agreed to purchase a Bell Logger machine for use in its sawmills.
Sithole and Chimusaro allegedly bought a reconditioned 225 Bell Logger from a company called Izol Trading at a cost of $64,000.
The pair did so without going to tender as required by law, the court heard.
On the second count, the state alleges that Allied Timbers had its own lawyers, Maanda & Associates Legal Practitioners and Mugadza & Associates who are permanently contracted.
The court heard that sometime in January, Sithole and Chimusaro allegedly outsourced the services of the company’s contracted attorneys without the consent of the board of directors or the procurement committee of the company.
