Rufaro Marketing saga: Director points gun at council official

MOSES MATENGA/KUDAKWASHE CHIBVURI

Director of the Harare council-run Rufaro Marketing, Juma Ulete, reportedly produced a firearm and threatened a senior council official  after she inquired of the dire financial situation at the company, it has emerged.

This came out yesterday during the appearance of Harare Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume before the commission of inquiry where he was quizzed on the matter.

Mafume was accused of forwarding his allies to run the entity and facilitate looting.

Ulete is said to have threatened the official against making such inquiries.

The information confirmed an investigative story by Business Times last year exposing massive looting at the entity and that Mafume had seconded his allies that include Ulete and fellow Director Ngoni Chimbalu.

Both are known for fundraising for the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and the MDC-T ahead of elections.

Mafume however, denied the two were linked to CCC.

It came out that Rufaro Marketing was not remitting to council with cartels facilitating deals and pocketing thousands of dollars at the expense of the local authority.

Mafume was quizzed about the gun-toting behavior of Ulete and confirmed that he had a gun in the meeting also attended by Chamber Secretary Warren Chiwawa, lawyer Harrison Nkomo among others.

Mafume said Ulete did not produce the gun but had it during the meeting for security reasons.

“The person who got emotional about the situation was the board member, Ulete. My recollection of the event was that he mentioned that because of the dangers they were experiencing, they had to move around with firearms even in meetings,” Mafume said in defending why Ulete brought a gun to the meeting.

“Ulete had a firearm, and it was concealed on him. He mentioned that they had to move around with firearms.”