The Unity Gala that is supposed to be held on the 21^st of December hangs in the balance following revelations that no one has been appointed to take over from the five organisers who are in court on allegations of fraud.

Five people from the Ministry of Information and Publicity who were in the organising team were arrested after the Mzee Bira that was held in Beitbridge on September 14^th after allegedly defrauding the state of more than half a billion dollars.

The five, Gala Co-ordinator, Mavis Gumbo (43), Finance Director Dereck Sibanda (43), Ketty Tom (68) Chief Accountant, Thulani Sandla (29) and Ananaitia Masvikeni (31) accused of defrauding the State of $508 million during the Mzee Bira.

They have appeared before Beitbridge Magistrate Jabulani Muzanyathi twice and have been remanded out of custody on $3 million bail each.

The five were also suspended pending the outcome of the case but it has emerged that no team has yet been appointed to take over yet the upcoming gala is less than a month away.

Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity Bright Matonga said they were still consulting with other stakeholders but could not give details of the preparations of the upcoming gala.

It is the state’s case that between September 3^rd and 14^th this year, the accused persons fraudulently raised contracts of quotations from several service providers for food and accommodation for artistes who performed at the event.

They then submitted Real Time Gross Settlement forms with inflated values different from those appearing on the quotations for payment. The State stood to lose $508 770 000 in the process.

The issue came to light when a man employed by Copy World Publishers, a company contracted by the ministry to print the tickets for the Bira, was arrested in Beitbridge.

The man had printed his own batch of tickets that were not validated by the organisers and took them to Beitbridge during the day of the Bira. He approached a ministry official to sell the tickets on his behalf.

The official then alerted his superiors and a trap was set leading to George Mandizha's arrest.

An anti-corruption team was sent to Beitbridge to investigate the matter. The five were subsequently arrested following the investigations.

Now they are on suspension and there is no one to administer the Unity Gala to commemorate Unity Day.

Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF forged unity with late Joshua Nkomo’s PF Zapu after a series of tribal clashes that saw thousands of people being murdered by the notorious Five Brigade in Matebeleland and Midlands provinces.

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