Former Midlands State University (MSU) bursar, Mamelo Moyo and husband Melusi (acting director of works at MSU) were yesterday found guilty on charges of failing to declare to their employer that they had an interest in a company that supplied stationery and food to the institution.
BY Stephen Chadenga
The State proved that between September 2014 and October 2015 Mamelo authorised payments in 14 out of 24 transactions to Netabelt, worth $154 393 from MSU for the supply of stationery and food.
The university alleges that it was prejudiced of $50 000 after Netabelt inflated the prices of items it supplied.
Regional magistrate Morgan Nemadire will hand down sentence today.
The duo were facing charges of corruptly concealing information that they co-owned Netabelt.
In delivering judgment, Nemadire said the State had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the two had failed to declare interest to their principal.
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He said the two declared interest well after the company had entered into various deals with MSU.
Nemadire said it was surprising that in all the transactions, Netabelt entered with MSU, payments were made within nine days, whereas other companies doing business with the institution took more than three months to be paid.
He also said a forensic report revealed that Netabelt’s business address was a house in Mkoba suburb, a place which did not show the nature of the company’s stationery business.
“The accused only highlighted that the company’s business premises were in the city’s central business district during their defence in chief, but never mentioned that (in the warned and cautioned statement) to the investigating officer,” he ruled.
In her defence, Mamelo claimed she declared interest in Netabelt in September 2014 and submitted documents to the procurement manager. But State witness and MSU bursar, Erasmus Mupfiga said he had not seen the declaration forms.
He said MSU received information that Mamelo instructed her subordinates to sign declaration forms when the institution had already ordered her probe.
In all these transactions, the pair failed to declare any conflict of interest with the university.
