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Peter Matambanadzo Harare Bureau
THE CMED (Pvt) Ltd managing director Davison Mhaka has been suspended without pay and benefits with immediate effect pending a disciplinary hearing for his alleged involvement in the fuel scandal that prejudiced the company of $3 million.
The parastatal’s board yesterday ordered Mhaka to surrender all company assets, including his service Mercedes Benz S320 and laptops to the company’s human resources department.

Investigations into Mhaka’s involvement in the botched deal took place when he was on forced leave recently.
According to the letter of suspension signed by CMED board chairman Godwills Masimirembwa, Mhaka will appear before a disciplinary hearing set for August 28.

“The board of CMED has resolved that you be suspended from duty pending disciplinary action in terms of Statutory 15 of 2006 Labour (National Employment Code of Conduct) regulations 2006,” the letter of suspension read.

According to the letter, charges against Mhaka arose after he acted inconsistent with the fulfilment of his conditions of contract of employment when he authorised the purchase of fuel from First Oil which did not have fuel in Zimbabwe.

The CMED board said this was against a board resolution that fuel would be bought from a company with fuel in Zimbabwe.
Mhaka faces another charge of wilful disobedience to a lawful order given by an immediate supervisor or senior officer after he disregarded orders and dealt with First Oil which showed that it had foreign partners without advising his principal.

“You did not satisfy yourself that First Oil indeed had the fuel at Msasa,” read the letter of suspension. “This disobedience to a lawful order resulted in actual prejudice to CMED in the sum of $2,7 million.”

The board is also charging Mhaka with theft and fraud for deliberately or negligently acting in concert with First Oil to defraud CMED, gross unsatisfactory  work performance, incompetence and inefficiency.

The CMED board said Mhaka authorised a tender award to a company that did not have a valid import licence and that did not appear on the State Procurement Board list of bulk fuel suppliers.

He was also accused of failing to carry out adequate due diligence in awarding the deal to First Oil.
The CMED fuel saga has also sucked in the company’s fuel manager Brian Manjengwa who is on forced leave.

He is accused of conniving with First Oil directors Alex Mahuni, Maxwell Katunga and Alloys Nyamadzawo, whose trial that had been set for yesterday, failed to kick off.

Also implicated in the case are National Oil Infrastructure Company chief executive officer Wilfred Matukeni and his counterpart at Petrotrade Tanaka Sikwila.

The two are accused of misrepresenting to CMED (Pvt) Ltd that they were storing three million litres of diesel on behalf of First Oil at Msasa depot when they knew they did not have the commodity.