ZimNow News Desk
At least 500 people may have obtained Zimbabwean learner’s licences and certificates of competency without completing mandatory tests after employees allegedly manipulated the Vehicle Inspection Department’s computer system.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission chairperson Michael Reza told an anti-corruption research conference in Bulawayo that improperly licensed drivers were now a road-safety threat.
His suggestion that “hundreds of thousands” of unqualified people could be driving has not yet been supported by published investigation figures. ZACC’s statement referred to approximately 500 suspected beneficiaries.
The commission also said some beneficiaries were foreign nationals and alleged that accomplices within the Central Vehicle Registry helped produce the documents.
ZACC has arrested VID data capture clerks Tinotenda Maningi and Chrison Chipanda over the alleged scheme.
ZACC says the two allegedly worked with Ebenezzer Zvidza and Emmanuel Mushonga, who remain wanted, to access accounts belonging to other VID officials and process unauthorised transactions.
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The altered accounts allegedly concealed the identities of those processing the applications and compromised the system’s audit trail.
Some applicants allegedly received learner’s licences or certificates of competency without undergoing the required examinations. Fake receipts were reportedly generated to show that statutory fees had been paid.
The suspects allegedly demanded between US$200 and US$500 from each applicant instead of directing them through official payment channels.
ZACC estimates that fraudulent licences and certificates valued at approximately US$1 million may have been processed. However, it has not explained how that figure was calculated.
Maningi and Chipanda appeared before a Harare magistrate on July 30. They have not pleaded and are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A forensic examination is continuing to establish the full number of licences issued, the Government revenue affected and whether fraudulent documents remain in circulation. How was the US$1 million figure calculated?
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