BULAWAYO – The deputy mayor of Bulawayo Edwin Ndlovu and councillor Mpumelelo Moyo have been arrested accused of demanding a US$20,000 bribe from a company seeking to establish a cement factory in the city.
Ndlovu and Moyo were arrested on Thursday night and will appear in court on Saturday, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) spokesperson Simiso Mlevu said.
“They were arrested soon after receiving trap money from Tsisi Mapfumo of Labenmon Investments,” Mlevu told ZimLive by phone on Friday.
Labenmon Investments intends to set up a cement factory near Cowdray Park suburb, north-west of the city. The company has been seeking approvals from the local authority.
The company first submitted an application for 10 hectares of land in November last year, but councillors shot it down arguing that cement dust from the factory would pose a health hazard for Cowdray Park residents.
In April this year, councillors had a sudden change of heart and approved a second bid from the company, allocating it 5.6 hectares.
Mlevu says it was after the approval of the application that Ndlovu and Moyo, who chairs the finance and development committee, approached Mapfumo claiming they were representing 20 councillors. They wanted US$20,000 as reward for facilitating the approval of the cement factory.
ZACC investigators lured the two men to Mapfumo’s house on Thursday night on the pretext that the cash was ready for collection. They were arrested shortly after receiving trap money from Mapfumo.
