By Correspondent
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).
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.
ZPC had initially done due diligence and awarded the contract to Pito Investments.
However direct orders from higher offices re-directed them to Helcraw Electrical.
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.
8 Years Later
Eight years later Helcrow has resurfaced again.
This time it has signed an agreement for the building of a new water treatment plant for the capital.
Just like with the Mutare Power Plant deal from 2016, the Water Treatment deal has also emerged under suspicious arrangements.
The ownership structure of the company also lends credence to a repetition of the 2016 scheme.
ZANU PF Murewa West legislator Farai Jere is reportedly the owner of Helcraw Electrical.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is Brendon Jere, brother to the former Premier Soccer League (PSL) Chairman.
During the signing ceremony for the water deal with Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe and Harare Mayor Mafume, Brendon signed the papers.
What has also raised eyebrows for this latest deal has been the speed and secrecy.
Speed And Secrecy
Two weeks ago Minister Garwe revealed that they were working on a water deal for Harare and hoped to conclude matters before month-end.
Only to emerge this week with both a company for that deal plus an agreement in place!
It doesn’t help matters that the two main players in the deal are both politically exposed entities.
While Jere is a full ZANU PF member the other partner is Hangzhou Laison Technology Company, a Chinese company.
The Chinese have been cited as the main beneficiaries of many of the country’s huge capital projects since the advent of the Operation Restore Legacy in 2017.
China is Zimbabwe’s fourth-largest trading partner and its largest source of investment – with stakes worth many billions of pounds in everything from agriculture to construction.
However, Zimbabwe is the dependent partner.
Chinese Partners
China provides the largest market for its exports and much needed support to its fragile economy.
To its credit Hangzhou has a positive track record in the water 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.
However that will do little to lessen the suspicions around this hasty deal.
ZPC Operations Director Engineer Joshua Chirikutsi absolved the entity of any wrongdoing.
“Due diligence was carried out by ZPC on Helcrow and its technical partners.
“After the due diligence we then sought a waiver from our Ministry through ZESA and we got a response to proceed to the contract signing as awarded by the SPB.
“In terms of process, once you got the commercial envelop, you should have set aside the non-compliant bids so that you invest in adjudication of compliant bids.
“Be that as it may you proceeded to evaluate all the bids and sent to the Board the non-compliant bid.
“You opened that window by evaluating firther a non-compliant bid,” said Daniel Shumba, who was part of the Parliament’s Energy Committee.
