- Forasmuch as none have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely in the public domain and yet remain unknown among us, concerning one of Zimbabwe’s most little known but well meaning and industrious citizens, Kenneth Raydon Sharpe, Dubai Builder,
- Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word with this devout Latter Day Saint, and they as would assist him in this mightiest of tasks,
- It seemed good to me also, having had perfect access to and understanding of all things from the very first, through reproducing from free public records accessible to anyone but for knowledge of where to look, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Svodai,
- That thou mayest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast not been instructed,
- And that it is known far and wide that Zimbabwe hast in its fortune been bestowed with devious resources, chief of which being human capital,
- Including in its midst world renowned economists, world mixed martial arts champions, even world renowned actors and actresses, and a few award winning journalists, or one to be exact, in case we but forget that we must eschew exaggeration even a little,
- But, unsung in his efforts, we have in Ken Sharpe a man that is promising to put up 5 billion bricks to build homes in this country, and create our own Dubai in Zimbabwe; forasmuch as I have tried to build a house myself in our beloved Mberengwa in the village that thou knowest full well, dear Svodai, still incomplete, believe me, I know 5 billion bricks is a lot, seeing as I used 170,000 bricks only, and that was 17 Gonyets, if that be a word, but 5 billon bricks will need 500,000 Gonyets and that, is a lot,
- Therefore in the interests of public knowledge, and the investing public that seek to assist this industrious work to build a Dubai in Zimbabwe, have I, by combing public records with no commentary save where same mayest be understood only as opinion and not the creating of facts, I have set forth to shew how this monumental work originated, and shed light on how it will surely come to pass,
- That thou, dear Svodai, might finally be free of thy sojourn in diaspora, and return home where we shall tilleth the land, milketh the cows and harvesteth the honey that shall surely ensue unto us;
- So that the Word of the Lord might be fulfilled, just as it was prophesied by the Prophet Jeremiah: “For He hast sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This sojourn in the diaspora is too long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit’”,
- It is thus important to position Ken Sharpe right at the beginning, just as there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth; our account starts much later, in the days of Robert Gabriel Mugabe, then President of Zimbabwe, and Morgan Tsvangirai, as soon to be Prime Minister, that a certain man named Kenneth Raydon Sharpe, of the course of whomsoever his father was, and his wife was the twin sister of Tatiana Aleshina, and her name is not relevant,
- And so it is, that from the preface of a Report presented to the Office of the said Prime Minister way back in 2010 on how Ken Sharpe first acquired the land on which some of the Gonyets will deliver some of the 5 billion bricks, and on the report, that our Chronicle shall begin, I have reproduced for you, most excellent Svodai, from publicly available information without a single amendment except for paragraphing for ease of reference, saying the following:
a) The harmonised elections of 20 March 2008 produced the first elected Councillors since 14 December 2004 when Minister Chombo appointed the Sekesai Makwavarara-led Commission to run the affairs of the Harare City Council. Election results were announced on 30 March 2008. According to Section 47(2)(b) of the Urban Council’s Act, the elected Councillors assumed office on 31 March 2008. The elected Councillors could however, not commence performing their duties despite assuming office as they had not been sworn into office in terms of Section 17(3) of the Urban Councils Act
b) The Minister of Local Government, Urban and Rural Development, Dr. I. Chombo who is charged with the responsibility of administering the Urban Councils Act, did not arrange for the swearing in of the new Councillors as was expected of him. Instead, he verbally instructed his Permanent Secretary to inform the Town Clerk that he had appointed a three-man Caretaker Council for a period of 90 days. The message was then verbally conveyed to the Town Clerk by the Permanent Secretary on 25 April 2008. The Caretaker Council held its first meeting on 28 April 2008, before the appointed Councillors had received their formal letters of appointment.
c) The Caretaker Council’s lifespan lasted for sixty-three days. In those sixty-three days the Council awarded an USD80 million project to Augur Investments OU without going to tender, employed 742 persons to the city council without advertising for such posts, and approved the sale of the properties in prime areas of Harare to Minister Chombo without going to tender among other resolutions. The frantic pace with which the Caretaker Council carried out its business suggested that there was deliberate program of action which was designed to achieve certain results before the swearing in of the newly elected Councillors.
d) Prior to the appointment of the Caretaker Council, the Harare Commission, then led by Mr Michael Mahachi had entered into a Joint Venture Agreement with Augur Investments OU, an Estonian registered company to establish a Joint Venture Company called Sunshine Developments (Pvt) Ltd. According to the Shareholders Agreement, Augur Investments OU was to inject between USD20-30 million for the construction of luxury houses. The City Council’s contribution was to be in the form of land, (99,4 hectares) which was valued in ZW$. The shareholding structure in this Joint Venture was to be 70%-30% for Augur Investments OU and the City Council respectively. Whereas the 99.4 hectares were transferred into the Joint. Venture Company there is no record of Augur Investments OU injecting the USD 2O – 30million into the project as per the terms of the agreement.
e) The most significant resolution that the Caretaker Council made was the awarding of the Airport Road Construction project to Augur Investments OU without going to tender. The project was at that time valued at USD80 million. The Harare Caretaker Council Chairman Mr. M. Mahachi formally received his letter of appointment on 21 May 2008. On the same day, he signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoA)with Augur Investments OU on the Airport Road Project Minister Chombo signed the MoA as a witness. The Caretaker Council Chairman had not obtained council’s approval when he signed the MoU. However, on 28 May 2008. Mr. M Mahachi chaired a Council meeting which approved the signing of the MoA in retrospect. In addition the Caretaker Council resolved to institute an independent valuation of the cost of the Airport Road Project and the land to be exchanged.
f) The following day, the 29 of May 2008, before the independent valuation of the project and the land could be carried out, Mr. M Mahachi signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Augur Investments OU wherein Augur Investments OU was to undertake the construction of the Airport Road in exchange for land. The Augur Investments OU representative, a Mr. Oleksandr Sheremet, was only able to sign the Agreement on 9 June 2008. The Airport Road deal between The City of Harare and Augur Investments OU was structured in such a way that Augur investments OU would acquire land from the Council as payment for the construction of the Airport road. The City of Harare has thus far transferred to Augur Investments OU close to 733.9 hectares of land as payment for the project.
g) The preamble to the MoU described Augur Investments OU as a company with expertise in property development. An examination of the Company Registry of Estonia reveals that Augur Investment OU was registered an a company in Estonia on 3 September 2007. Mr. Oleksandr Sheremet, who signed the MoA as a representative of Augur Investments OU, only became a member of the Augur Investments OU board on 18 September 2008, three months after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. In the Shareholders Agreement that Augur Investments OU signed with the City of Harare, it lists as its address 62 Quorn Avenue Mf Pleasant, Harare which is the same address that Minister Chombo’s company, Harvest-Net Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd cites in its Company’s Annual Return Forms that are filed with the Registrar of Companies. There is therefore documentary evidence that links Augur Investments OU to the Minister of Local Government.
h) The Caretaker Council did not, prior to entering into agreements with Augur Investments OU seek proof of Augur Investments OU’s compliance with the Zimbabwe Investment Authority Act whereby all foreign companies seeking to invest in Zimbabwe are required to obtain the approval of Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) upon the production of prescribed documents. Augur investments OU has however proceeded to form at least seven companies in Zimbabwe which have taken ownership of properties that have been transferred to it by the City Council as payment for work done on the Airport Road Project.
i) In blatant breach of the Memorandum of Agreement it signed with the City Council Augur Investments OU has sub-contracted the whole Airport Road Project to a South African company called Power Construction (Pvt) Ltd. Augur Investments OU has then gone on to charge the City Council facilitation fees amounting to about USD1.2 million for sub-contracting the Airport Road Project. Upon the swearing in of the elected Councillors in July 2008, Minister Chombo appointed M. Mahachi as a Special Interest Councillor. This enabled M. Mahachi to continue attending meetings with Augur Investments OU to discuss the implementation of the Airport Road Project. In one such meeting. M. Mahachi approved on behalf of the City Council his own appointment as the Project Manager for the Airport Road Project, a decision which guaranteed him almost USD2 million in fees. He has thus far received in excess of USD130 000 in fees from the City Council
j) In conclusion it is clear from the evidence that is contained in this report that the Airport Road Deal and the Sunshine Developments (Pvt) Ltd Joint Ventures entered into with Augur Investments OU by the Caretaker Council with Minister Chombo’s blessings were designed to siphon vast tracts of Council land under the guise of projects that were meant to benefit the City of Harare. In total 833.27 hectares have been transferred by Council to Augur Investments OU and Sunshine Developments (Pvt) Ltd as a result of the two deals referred to above. The City has derived no tangible benefit from those deals. The size of the land which has so far been transferred to Augur Investments OU and Sunshine Developments (Pvt) Ltd is equivalent to at least nineteen medium sized commercial farms or to 41 664 residential stands (measuring 200m’ each) in a high density suburb. The current Harare City Council Housing waiting list has more than 500 000 applicants. This report demonstrates that Minister Chombo and the Chairman of the Caretaker Council, Mr Michael Mahachi have both benefited personally from the questionable decisions of the Caretaker Council at the expense of Harare Residents.
- And so concludes the preface to the Report, copy of which once it was obtained is in the custody of foreign based attorneys for safekeeping,
- And the child that is Augur Investments grew, and waxed strong in land, spirit and reach, spawning many other companies as it retreated to Mauritius, and was ensconced in said Mauritius likely paying no corporate taxes in Zimbabwe till the day of its shewing unto the VFX under a different name, but that is surely a tale for another time.
- And the rest of the acts of Ken Sharpe and Augur Investments OU, registered by government and City of Harare as a Ukrainian company but never incorporated in Ukraine, and how they got immunity from criminal and civil liability, land for free, morphed Augur Investments into Alpha Holdings and then as WestPro Limited listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange, took over Warren Hills Golf Course, and mortgaged land that it did not own and got the criminal case against it withdrawn by the National Prosecution Authority, are they not going to be written in the Book of the Chronicles of Ken Sharpe?
Advocate Tinomudaishe Chinyoka
