60 ghost workers exposed

Fungayi Moyana

In an incident that left the Chivhu court tongue tied 3 Senior Clerks at Chikomba District appeared in court for allegedly raising salary requisitions for 60 ghost Village Heads and signing for the money from 2010 to 2015.

It is alleged that at least US $ 8 195 have been stolen by Monica Mutsimba Administration Officer,Michael Ngiza Accounting Officer,and Douglas Karuru Administration Assistant.

‘The skeletons inside the closet’ were discovered when an audit was carried out by a team from provincial office in Marondera, they revealed different signatures for the same sixty village heads signing for the money.

When confronted by the auditors the defendants told them that the village heads were old and some of them came to sign whilst they were drunk.

The accused connived and hatched a plan to steal from the state by forging sixty deceased, non existent village heads and signed for their monthly allowances and converted them for their own personal use.

The names of the ghost payees where swiftly wiped out from the computers as soon as the accused realized that the audit had picked the fraud.

They appeared before Resident Magistrate for Chivhu Story Rushambwa on fraud charges, pleaded not guilty to these charges and the trial resumes early this month.

They are facing fraud charges and appeared before Resident Magistrate Story Rushambwa at Chivhu Magistrate court and pleaded not guilty to the charges.