Someone should tell Tšolo to either shut up or come clean about his role in the solar deal scandal. Either that or he should find a cave or hole in which to hide. His denials so far give an impression of a man trying to be too clever.
Even Grade Three students are laughing at his explanations. Goats will laugh him off the veld if he tries to peddle that nonsense.
He is now saying his signature on the contract was forged. He says he rejected the Frazer Solar deal because it was supposed to start from the Ministry of Energy.
Muckraker suspects the man is making up things as he goes, hoping people would buy his story.
The trouble, though, is that he has started tripping himself with his tall tales. Liars must have good memories lest they rob their lies of their legs.
Tšolo did not reject the proposal. Rather, he liked it so much that he enthusiastically touted it within government corridors.
His letter to the Ministry of Energy shows that he could not contain his excitement.
“The Project promises to have a profound and positive impact on the entire country which we may wish to seriously consider,” Tšolo said in the letter to the then energy minister.
He even couched it as a German government project when it was clear this was coming from Frazer Solar which had roped in a German financier.
Tšolo will probably claim that he didn’t write that letter too and his signature was forged as well. He will be right because that letter doesn’t sound like it was written by a government minister.
The letter was likely written by someone from Frazer Solar and Tšolo just appended his signature without reading it.
Everyone knows our civil servants don’t like writing stories because it is a craft beyond their skill and acumen.
If Tšolo wrote that letter then South Africa is in the middle of Lesotho, the Feselady is a prophet and the Lesotho Bus Freight company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
The only thing that looks like his on that letter is his elaborate signature. What irritates Muckraker is that everyone, including the Public Accounts Committee MPs quizzing Tšolo are not asking him the most important question.
One of them should look him in the eyes and ask: Ntate Tšolo, were you sober when you signed that contract.
It cannot be a coincidence that the Frazer Solar official approached Tšolo to sign the contract. He probably knew the man had some blood in his alcohol.
That contract was most likely signed at some restaurant somewhere after a few glasses. Muckraker cannot prove this theory but it is the most likely explanation given the nature of the contract.
No sober minister would sign a contract for the government to buy geysers, lantern lights and light bulbs for M2 billion. The loan itself attracted a ten percent interest at a time when interest rates were below two percent.
These were Euros, not Zim dollars. Tšolo should therefore blame it all on beer, not a forged signature.
Some have suggested a commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of this scandal. That won’t work. What we need is a breathalyser followed by a long stint in rehab or jail.
Nka! Ichuuuuuuuuuuu!
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