Former Midlands State University bursar Mamelo and her husband, Melusi Moyo, the institution’s former acting director of works, who are facing charges of failing to declare their interests in a company that supplied goods to the institution, were yesterday granted bail after their lawyers appealed at the High Court against an earlier decision to deny them their freedom.
By Stephen Chadenga
The couple are facing charges of corruptly concealing from a principal a personal interest in a transaction as defined in section 173(1)(a)(1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
Mamelo faces a separate charge of criminal abuse of office.
When they appeared in court last month, the two were denied bail and were remanded in custody, but their lawyers appealed the decision at the High Court.
Magistrate Judith Taruvinga granted Mamelo $400 bail on the two charges she is facing, while Melusi was released from custody on $200 bail.
The pair will be back in court on April 4.
Allegations against Mamelo are that sometime in December 2013, she called her sister’s husband, Tinashe Shumba, then based in Botswana and requested him to supply toner cartridges to MSU.
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Shumba sent a quotation for 25 cartridges and on February 22, 2014, delivered them.
Mamelo immediately authorised payment of $9 860 from the MSU cash register.
After Shumba was paid, he allegedly gave Mamelo $200 as a token of appreciation for the deal.
The university’s procurement procedures demanded that three quotations should have been sought.
The State further alleges that on October 26, 2015, MSU received a tip-off that Mamelo and her husband had an undisclosed relationship with the institution’s suppliers of stationery and computer accessories, Netabelt Investments.
MSU ordered a probe into the alleged relationship.
To cover up her tracks, Mamelo allegedly ordered her subordinates to sign declaration forms that authenticated registration of conflict of interest.
The investigators allegedly discovered that Melusi, through Netabelt Investments, had three transactions worth $36 857 with MSU that were processed through tender processes for supplying stationery.
Mamelo, who was a member of the university’s tender adjudication committee, did not disclose such conflict of interest to the committee.
After receiving the stationery, she allegedly approved payment in cash to Melusi.
Further allegations are that Melusi had 30 transactions through his company, Netabelt, worth $154 393 with MSU for the supply of stationery and food.
His wife would authorise payments to him.
In all these transactions, both suspects allegedly failed to declare any conflict of interest with the university.
