Former National Patriotic Front (NPF) spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire has castigated controversial businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, accusing him of orchestrating large-scale looting through corrupt deals with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and exploiting government programmes for personal gain.
Posting on X, Mawarire described Tagwirei as “a well-connected conman,” claiming that he manipulated financial systems and government policies to amass millions in U.S. dollars at the expense of the public. He said:
Tagwirei is not a businessman. He is just a well-connected conman.
Mawarire alleges that in February 2019, when the government introduced the RTGS dollar through Statutory Instrument 33, which mandated a 1:1 conversion rate for all accounts, Tagwirei was granted preferential treatment.
He claims that, through his associate Chris Fourie, Tagwirei negotiated with the RBZ to convert $15 million in treasury bills at a rate of 1:5.5 — a deal that saw him walk away with over $75 million instead of $15 million. Said Mawarire:
Instead of getting $15m, Tagwirei and company were paid more than $75m, making a $60m killing overnight.
He further claimed that between 2017 and 2019, Tagwirei’s company, Sakunda Holdings and its affiliates received over US$3 billion in Treasury Bills — funds issued outside of the national budget.
A 2019 parliamentary inquiry reportedly found that much of the money was unaccounted for, with Mawarire accusing the RBZ of printing money for Tagwirei and fueling runaway inflation in the process.
In addition, Mawarire pointed to the controversial Command Agriculture programme, saying Parliament confirmed in 2020 that Sakunda was paid US$1.28 billion under the scheme, of which only US$1 billion was spent on inputs.
He claims the remaining US$280 million could not be traced, with the Auditor General describing the programme as opaque and riddled with financial irregularities.
Mawarire also criticised Tagwirei’s recent involvement in the Land Tenure Implementation Committee, which he claims is a new vehicle for looting.
He alleged that the businessman is now selling “fake title deeds” to unsuspecting beneficiaries of the land reform programme. Said Mawarire:
The guy sold the country a dummy and used sanction sanction-busting excuse to loot our resources through his government and RBZ connections… This guy has to be stopped!
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