A multimillion-dollar solar borehole project, awarded to businessman Paul “Tempta” Tungwarara, has come under heavy fire amid allegations that funds were looted while little to no work was done on the ground.
Parliamentarians this week exposed how Tungwarara’s company received a blanket, uncontested tender to install solar-powered boreholes nationwide, but most communities remain without access to clean water. Lawmakers said the deal was another example of the murky procurement practices that have plagued President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.
“The people are thirsty while money is disappearing,” one MP said during heated debate. “This is public theft dressed up as development.”
The controversy has been amplified by viral videos and social media posts showing Tungwarara flaunting luxury assets, including private helicopter trips. Critics argue this is evidence of how public funds are being siphoned off to fund lavish lifestyles, while ordinary Zimbabweans endure collapsing hospitals, broken schools, and chronic shortages.
Further outrage was sparked when Tungwarara’s daughter appeared online flaunting luxury shopping sprees abroad, fuelling claims that stolen money is being wasted in Dubai and other foreign capitals.
Observers say the case is emblematic of how government procurement has become a conduit for corruption, with politically connected cartels winning tenders without competition and failing to deliver on contracts.
Civil society groups have called for a full forensic audit of the borehole programme, warning that failure to hold officials accountable will entrench a culture of impunity.
As anger grows, the promised boreholes billed as a flagship initiative to ease the country’s worsening water crisis remain largely undelivered. For millions of Zimbabweans, the taps are still dry, while the scandal underscores the deep rot in the state’s procurement system.
