Chiredzi RDC demands refund from vehicle dealer

By The NewsDay | Apr. 16, 2021 | 2 Min read

BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA Chiredzi Rural District Council (RDC) was left counting its losses and is now seeking to recover over $6 158 120 from embattled Solution Motors, a vehicle dealer that was recently blacklisted by the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ). This was after Motor Solutions won a tender to supply a Toyota Fortuner […]

BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA

Chiredzi Rural District Council (RDC) was left counting its losses and is now seeking to recover over $6 158 120 from embattled Solution Motors, a vehicle dealer that was recently blacklisted by the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ).

This was after Motor Solutions won a tender to supply a Toyota Fortuner for the council’s chief executive officer (CEO) in October 2020, which it promised to deliver by the end of November, but failed to meet the deadline.

Chiredzi RDC CEO Ailes Baloyi told NewsDay that the local authority had since written to Solution Motors demanding full repayment, plus 10% damages.

“Yes, Solution Motors won a tender to supply a Toyota Fortuner in October last year and promised to deliver by the end of November.

“The vehicle is yet to be delivered and we also heard it was caught on the wrong side of PRAZ rules and regulations, so we have seen it fit to demand our money back,” he said.

“They pleaded with us to pay them upfront for them to cover the clearance of the vehicle at Zimra [Zimbabwe Revenue Authority] which was supposed to speed up the delivery of the vehicle, but up to now, nothing was delivered. We have since written to them demanding that they repay the full amount, including 10% damages as agreed in the contract.”

Chiredzi RDC, which went on a controversial vehicle shopping spree recently, pampered its six top managers with top-of-the-range Toyota Hilux GD-6 pick-up trucks.

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Meanwhile, Solution Motors is currently engaged in a protracted legal battle with Karoi Town Council after it failed to deliver refuse trucks ordered by the local authority in 2017, and is among three vehicle dealers that were recently blacklisted by PRAZ.

Solution Motors came under the spotlight after the Auditor-General Mildred Chiri’s report indicated that by 2018, the company had prejudiced government of US$207 540 worth of vehicles not delivered.

The department of irrigation in the Agriculture ministry is said to have ordered 10 vehicles through Solution Motors worth US$518 850, but the company failed to deliver.