VENAH Kufakunesu, the director of Sterile Systems Hygienic who was facing charges of fraudulently acquiring a cleaning tender at Harare International Airport, was yesterday cleared of the charges by Harare magistrate Tsatsawani Ndava.
BY CHARLES LAITON SENIOR COURT REPORTER
In her judgment, Ndava said the State had failed to establish a prima facie case against Kufakunesu and her firm, adding that her contract had been procedurally approved by the State Procurement Board (SPB).
The court said evidence averred by the defence had proved that the SPB awarded the contract to Kufakunesu after it had carried out verifications of the cleaning tender bids and adjudged that Sterile Systems Hygienic Services were compliant in all aspects ahead of their competitor Extreme Cleaning Services.
The matter arose when the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) received information that Kufakunesu’s firm had been awarded the tender ahead of the firm it had selected prompting it to carry out further investigations on its own.
CAAZ, however, later claimed Kufakunesu had used a shelf company, bought in June 2012, and an individual’s Standard Chartered Bank accounts contrary to the tender requirements, but its assertions were dismissed by the court. Through her lawyer Admire Rubaya, Kufakunesu accused her rival firm of stealing her valid documents and substituting them with fake ones in a bid to build a fraud case against her.
