Sources in the CSC said army officials stationed at the Salary Services Bureau (SSB) and the Pension Office were the major focus of the probe. According to the insiders, the army officers, some of them with very senior ranks, are conniving with their colleagues at the KGVI military headquarters and the RG’s office to produce fake identity documents that are then used to claim the terminal benefits that are supposed to go to the deceased employees’ dependents.
“The net is closing in on these army guys who have always been a problem. It has come to our attention that the military personnel seconded to SSB and the Pension Office have for a very long time been involved in this scam.
“They have been systematically diverting the terminal benefits to bank accounts that they would have created and then withdrawing the money in what seems like a widespread racket,†said a senior CSC employee.
Recalled
A team from the army was recently recalled to ZNA HQ following the discovery of the scam, but it could not be established immediately if action had been taken against them. In that case, the army officers used their colleagues at KGVI, where identity documents are printed, to obtain a fake national identity card for a deceased civil service employee.
The sources said the ID was used to open a new bank account where the money was deposited after the terminal benefits were worked out and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) issued a deduction order.
“The initial account used by the deceased former soldier was closed when the army officials approached the bank and claimed that there was a problem with it. It seems banking staff were part of the scam, because it is not clear up to now why they allowed the new account to be opened without subjecting the matter to due checks and verification,†said a second informant.
Lump sum withdrawal
The new ID bore the names and other details of the deceased soldier. An associate of the army staff seconded to the Pension Office played the part of the relative processing the money. After the initial lump sum withdrawal amounting to more than $10,000, the culprits, said the sources, stopped checking the account activities and made no further withdrawals.
“Either unknown to the fraudsters or out of fear of being detected, money kept being deposited in the account as part of the terminal benefits and pension. This led to the account being “flooded†and the bank noticed it before approaching the Pension Office to find out why the money was not being withdrawn,†said the second source.
It was subsequently discovered that, in fact, the intended beneficiary had long passed away. Staff from the RG’s office were fingered in the scandal, with the sources saying they also helped in the processing of fake ID documents for kickbacks.
Attempts to get a comment from Mariyawanda Nzuwah, the CSC boss, failed. But sources said the investigations involved a team comprising Pension Office staff, Nikuv, an Israeli company that has been doing consultancy for the RG’s office, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), the army and police.
High-powered team
“This is a high-powered investigation team and heads are set to roll. It seems quite a number of senior government officers and bank employees are involved in this. There has always been a suspicion that there is such a racket but at no time has a strong team been constituted to probe the scam,†he added.
The sources said recommendations from the CSC to reform the SSB and Pension Office to remove bureaucracy as a way of reducing loopholes used in corruption have not been actioned. The resistance by senior management could indicate that the bosses were also benefiting from the corruption, they said.
Other sources said senior managers were receiving bribes to speed up applications for terminal benefits – whose completion can take years. The army PR section had not responded to questions by the time of going to print.
Thus why My uncle’s War Victims Compensation was approved in July 1995 and has not been processed to his Bank Account…only got Paid a back Pay on in 2011 period February 2009 to March 2011…where was the rest of Compensation gone to since his Compensations was approved in 2005?……..
When I was in the uncomfortable position of telling EDDIE CROSS MP MDC of the then Zim unity Government that he was being lied to about the non-receipt of Diasporan pensions abroad, requiring me and others to be forthrightly blunt about it….. his final dismissive written response to me was that “you can stew in your own juice”. It seems the lies he was being fed were easier for him to live with, than the reality of the dishonest withholding of the overseas pensioners’ pensions.
These recent revelations of massive FRAUD involving the PENSIONS OFFICE and others now make much sense. With ZNA, SSB, PENSIONS OFFICE, etcetera, preoccupied with setting-up fictitious pensions to steal, for collection by the criminal elite from within the system, the matter of legitimate pensions for external pensioners becomes the least of their concern or day-to-day duties. Small wonder then, that there is no money to pay the real (white) pensioners, and staff shortages unable to handle the backlog.
People like Eddie CROSS and the Zim Pensions Officer comrade Sylvester MNKANDLA, do not come out of this smelling of roses. Not only does it STINK, it has been ongoing for OVER 10 YEARS.
For example, the overseas pensioners unpaid number some 300x pensioners, due say US$120 pcm, unpaid for say 10 years = US$US$1440 per annum. As there are over 350x of us that is a THEFT of US$504 000.00 per annum. However, as none of us has been paid for over TEN YEARS, the THEFT from overseas pensioners must now EXCEED US$ 5 000 000.00 – yes, that’s US$5 MILLION.
It seems clear now that ZIMBABWE’s, WESTERN AID in general, and UK AID in particular, need to looked at afresh & with honesty. Not to do so effectively continues to reward criminal behaviour, thus making the overseas AID AGENCIES accomplices in the fraud.
Perhaps, a poo-flinging incident at the offices of the UK government’s Department for International Development (DfID) would open their ears, eyes, and olfactory senses ?
John Austin, Zimbabwean Pensioner (unpaid)
Former Head, Harare Customs and Excise
Former Detainee, Chikurubi Maximum 1986 to 1988