By Correspondent
Speaking at the official handover of 16 service vehicles for the roll-out of prepaid water meters by Helcraw Electrical, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume struck a defiant and even abrasive tone.
Mafume said councillors were not elected to engage in perpetual political opposition and would not apologise for working with Central Government.
“We make no apology for working with the central government.
“When the electorate elected us, it was well aware that a result might come where the city would be held by another party and the central Government would be held by another party.
“And we were not elected to simply oppose the Government for the sake of it.”
The speech was an awkward defensive posture that surprised those ignorant about the wider context.
The bigger picture is that Mafume and the Harare Council have just joined hands with a suspect entity in a suspect arrangement.
This they did knowingly, hence the Mayor leaping to defend even before any accusation.
All the same accusations are bound to come because the deal remains suspicious pre- or post a Mafume defence.
A Shady Deal
Under the deal, Helcraw is expected to oversee a rollout of 600,000 prepaid meters across five cities as part of a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement.
The agreement involves the Government, the City of Harare, Helcraw Electrical, and Hangzhou Liaison Technology Company.
In Harare, Helcraw is expected to supply prepaid meters for 350,000 properties.
This will be done for US$96 million.
It’s also expected to replace a 100-kilometre pipe network valued at US$23 million.
These vast figures were the reason for initial apprehension in engaging the almost virgin entity.
Council officials questioned Helcraw’s capacity, referencing its failed bid to supply water meters in a US$2 million tender in 2023.
In January, Council officials reportedly met with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to express concerns.
They suspected that Helcraw, a company linked to ZANU PF legislator Farai Jere, was given undue preference.
Which is why it got the deal without going to tender.
On January 12, city officials, including acting water director Richard Kunyadini, attended a meeting at Makombe Building.
The meeting emphasised the need to first conduct due diligence on Helcraw Electrical Projects, focusing on whether they have the capacity to fund the project.
This meant the company got the deal without Council conducting any due diligence.
When contacted for comment, Jere refused to share what was discussed.
Helcraw again got the deal without providing proof of funding to finance the project, according to one media report.
The handing over of vehicles can thus be seen as two-fold: assurance of capacity and massaging the restless among officials.
To its credit their Chinese partner has a positive track record in the sector.
In 2022 only it participated in multiple projects with entities such as Egypt Holding Company, Angola Electricity and Water Ministry, Ghana Water Company and Nigeria FCT Water Board.
Chequered History
Helcraw already had a chequered past.
In 2016 Parliament stopped the implementation of the 120 megawatt emergency Mutare Power Peaking Plant.
It had emerged that the State Procurement Board had awarded the tender to a company that had failed to meet technical specifications stated by the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC).
That company was Helcraw.
When Parliament queried the deal, it emerged that there were shady moves and direct orders from high offices for Helcraw Electrical to be given the tender.
The contract was signed on 31st December 2015.
However, Parliament refused to endorse the deal because the company failed to meet the technical specifications required.
Eight years later, Helcrow has resurfaced again.
And Mafume, just like with Geopomona, is defending like hell.
