Brian Kazungu, 28/04/2021

SMM Holdings Limited CEO, Mr. Chirandu Dhlembeu acknowledged and took personal responsibility over the unlawful hijacking of Mawere’s house following investigations by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) on some fraudulent lease arrangements.

According to investigations, Dhlembeu acknowledged that he authorized the agreements without approval from Gwaradzimba, the Administrator who was appointed by then Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa to have oversight on SMM operations.

However, in a new twist of events, ‘alleged’ further investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission is said to have established that the contracting party in the lease agreement which also involves an estate agent is neither Dhlembeu himself nor SMM as previously submitted.

The ZACC official in charge of the matter, when contacted for comment on the issue, only referred to the mysterious missing figure as a ‘third party’ and promised to follow some leads on the matter.

Facts established by this paper show that the arrangement in relation to Mawere’s house that existed prior to the introduction of the extra-judicial Reconstruction of SMM were surprisingly allowed to continue outside the limitations imposed by the same Act.

While commenting on Dhlembeu’s feedback that he acted on his own without the knowledge of both Mawere and Gwaradzimba in engaging and concluding a contract with Knight Frank and Rutley Zimbabwe (KFRZ) to manage Mawere’s property, law expert, Mr. Frederick Kyle, said:

“This is shocking that Mr. Dhlembeu in any constitutional dispensation would deal with another person’s property without the authority and consent of the owner.”

Mr Kyle who is also a C2C Legal Literacy Initiative member expressed doubts of any personal financial gain by Dhlembeu but highlighted that in any case, if he did it for the benefit of SMM, he is liable for perjury and must be arrested and charged accordingly. 

“I doubt if the rental income was paid to his personal bank account. If it was, then he doesn’t need to benefit from the protection of the law. If the funds were paid to the order of SMM, then he deserves another charge of perjury and defeating the ends of justice.”

The charges are clear and obvious. Instead of assisting the investigators, he has taken the view that protecting Gwaradzimba is more important than protecting the rule of law. His version that he acted without the knowledge and consent of Gwaradzimba automatically should lead to his dismissal.

The fact that he remains employed by SMM after admitting to a crime, confirms his complicity with Gwaradzimba in the hijacking of Mawere’s property by abusing public power conferred by law.

There appears to be no law or authority that should protect both Dhlembeu and Gwaradzimba from handcuffs.” Mr Kyle said.

The ZACC official who spoke on the matter said that a tenant in the house has already been given a three month notice to vacate the premises and pleaded that Mawere should be thankful of the effort shown by ZACC so far and must wait for the final case report.

However, Mawere queried the rationale of continuing with investigations when it is already established that there are people illegally benefitting from his property for 17 years and asked also how the ‘alleged’ third party could enter into a contract for his property without his consent.

He also sought to establish the ZACC officer’s logic of giving the tenant a three month notice, a development which accords respect to an illegal contract that was fraudulently obtained.

 “I had no idea that Zimbabwe would descend to this level of anarchy where property rights can be infringed upon with the law enforcement agencies playing a complicit and enabling role.” Mawere said.

Other people privy to the developments in this whole saga described the ZACC ‘excuse’ as an abuse of the law to safeguard the interests of criminals at the expense of their victims.

Friends of SMM (FOSMM), Secretary General Mr. Tapuwa Chitambo expressed shock on revelations that the Reconstruction Act could have been ‘used’ to commit a crime where someone assumes control and management of another’s property without the owner’s permission.

“To me, knowingly and intentionally hijacking the property to the financial prejudice of the owner is a crime period. If it is correct that Gwaradzimba had no knowledge of this, then he is not fit for purpose.

The only way to start knocking them is for him, Dhlembeu, to be arrested. If he is not arrested, then he will be above the law. He has admitted he used for gain, someone else’s property without their knowledge or consent.

Why would the Minister of Justice appoint a person like this who can claim that for 17 years, he was not aware that SMM was receiving rental income for a property that fell outside the jurisdiction of SMM and his control?

It is strange that to date, no records of the money flows have been furnished to the owner of the property by Gwaradzimba and his accomplice, Dhlembeu, and on the face of it, it is clear that a scheme or conspiracy to defeat the ends of justice is in play here.

To compound matters, it was ultra vires the Recon Act for an employee like Dhlembeu to knowingly and intentionally enter into any lease in relation to the house during the period of reconstruction. Dhlembeu must be charged in terms of the common law and other provisions.”

Dear CGP Godwin Matanga Sir,

I address you, not because I am a former policeman but as a patriotic and peace-loving Zimbabwean. I have decided not to use the proper channel to address you since I am in pain and a great shock. As enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Police Service must protect and secure the lives of people living in the country. And it should also maintain law and order.

I have read the gruesome murder of an innocent civilian Paul Munakopa by our police officers from Hillside Police Station in Bulawayo. Mr. Munakopa died of injuries after officers opened fire at his vehicle on Saturday 23 May 2020. It pains me to see this kind of police brutality happening daily to my fellow citizens.

Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe is loud and clear ‘RIGHT TO LIFE’. As told by Mr. Munakopa’s wife he was not armed or possession of any weapon. It’s now over a week you have done nothing to bring the culprit to book. Look at what is happening in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States of America last week, a policeman killed an unarmed man, George Floyd. In less than 48 hours the cop was fired from police service and arrested for third-degree murder. The same should happen to the late Paul case here in Zimbabwe.

A fortnight ago three female opposition activists were arrested for staging an illegal demonstration in Harare. The activists were abducted and sexually assaulted whilst in police custody. As a former policeman, I am aware sir, every accused person in police custody is subject to booking and every occurrence at a police station is recorded in the Occurrence Book. What happened to these three ladies? I am praying for your immediate resignation from the Police Service since you do not deserve to lead such a vital government department. It’s far much better to concentrate on farming at your farm. We are sick and of human abuse by Zimbabwe security agents.

Yours in pain

Bloom Tizora (Author of 2 books, blogger, writer and former Zimbabwe policeman)

Fundamental Congruence Analysis

The Fundamental Congruence philosophy is premised on the discovery of the purpose of something and then designing or crafting a system and its related components in way that makes it possible for the whole to effectively achieve its objectives without individual components interfering and undermining the relevance and wellbeing of other components or negatively affecting the whole structure/unit.

In order for us to clearly understand and progressively make use of the Fundamental Congruence concept, we must firstly and separately analyze the meaning of the following words: 1) Fundamental 2) Congruence

Fundamentals are generally the basics or foundation of or for anything. As such, since the whole is made up of different components in order for it to serve its defined purpose,the components thereof must be in their right position and doing the right thing.

By congruence, I refer to the harmonious working together of these basic or primary components in order for them to achieve the desired results.

Let us also look at the dictionary meanings of the words Fundamental and Congruence, so that we can understand better what we are talking about.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Fundamental means serving as a basis supporting existence or determining essential structure or function while congruence means the quality or state of agreeing, coinciding, or being congruent.

So basically, Fundamental Congruence means a collection and arrangement of components that are fitly joined and working together to achieve a defined purpose.

The arrangement and interaction of these components must be so orderly that no component will expressly or impliedly work against the effective functioning of the other.

In order for us to clearly understand the Fundamental Congruence concept, we must come up with a congruence checklist which helps us to answer the various critical questions that are important for analyzing the relevance, design and layout of components in our structure.

The Fundamental Congruence checklist seeks to define:

1) What is this component?

2) What does it do?

3) Why does it do so?

4) What happens if it does not do so or if does not do it in the right way?

5) Where is this component situated in the anatomy?

6) Why is it situated there?

7) What happens if it is removed or moved to another place or if it is misplaced?

8) Who is in charge of this component and why?

9) How is its effectiveness assessed?

10) What happens if it is effective or not?

These ten questions will help you in designing very effective structures that helps in the easy attainment of results and mission accomplishment.

Without asking these relevant questions, there is a great likelihood of coming up with or maintaining components that interfere with the effectiveness of the other parts or even of the whole structure at the expense of the relevant stakeholders.

This checklist can be applied to any mission across the divide whether it is personal or institutional in nature. It applies to departments in an organization, ingredients in a product and even to social relations in the family or society as whole among others.

Adapted from the book The Fundamental Congruence Analysis Pocketbook written by Brian Kazungu