Zhoya Gets 12 Months Behind Bars Over Abuse of Office

The Harare Magistrates’ Court has jailed Grain Marketing Board (GMB) Aspindale Depot Supply Chain Manager, Obert Safuli Zhoya (58), for criminal abuse of office. He was handed a 24-month sentence, with 12 months suspended on condition of good behaviour, leaving him to serve an effective year in prison.

The conviction relates to a fraudulent scheme in May 2025, where Zhoya attempted to dispose of 599 bags of Compound D Superfert fertiliser under the pretext that the stock had been written off. The fertiliser, which had been moved from GMB Sadza Depot to Mt Hampden Depot in May 2024, was actually meant for the government’s grain-for-fertiliser swap programme.

Working in collusion with Madamara Investments (Pvt) Ltd, Zhoya sold the consignment for just USD $600 — effectively $1 per 50kg bag — when its true market value was over USD $19,000.

Court papers revealed that he directed GMB clerks and assistants to produce falsified receipts and deposit the proceeds into the parastatal’s account to disguise the transaction as genuine.

The fraud came to light when the Mt Hampden Depot Manager conducted stock verification and discovered that the fertiliser was still in usable condition and that no official disposal records existed. Subsequent investigations confirmed the product was not written off and remained reserved for farmers under the national programme.

Zhoya’s conviction adds to his tainted record. In 2022, while serving as secretary general of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) referees committee, he was banned from football activities for five years and fined 20,000 Swiss francs by FIFA. The sanction followed complaints from three female referees who accused him of sexual harassment.

FIFA’s ethics committee ruled that he had “abused his position,” following reports escalated by the ZIFA board to the continental and international football bodies, including CAF and COSAFA. Police only opened a formal investigation into the matter in December 2021.