Former Finance Minister and opposition politician Tendai Biti has described the appointment of Kudakwashe Tagwirei as Minister of Economic Development and Investment Promotion as a new low for the “Second Republic”.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed Tagwirei on Thursday.
Biti said the appointment was breathtaking arrogance and hubris on the part of the President.
“It is a statement that he is untouchable and oblivious of the national mood and national interest,” Biti said.
“We have consistently argued that the centre of gravity of this regime is looting, extraction and rent. Nothing else.”
Biti said the appointment cannot be separated from what he termed the mafia mentality driving the 2030 Agenda and the push for Constitutional Amendment No. 3, which he described as ill-fated and bringing the country to a point of no return.
“This appointment of Kuda conflates the line between power and private enrichment. It is the personification of State Capture. The Gupturisation of the Republic,” he said.
By Gupturisation, Biti was referring to the Gupta brothers – Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh (Tony) – who were Indian-born industrialists who immigrated to South Africa in the 1990s and became central figures in a massive state capture and corruption scandal during Jacob Zuma’s presidency.
Biti, who once chaired Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, branded Tagwirei the kingpin of massive extraction and the archbishop of corruption.
“His shadow permeates every corridor of looting, from fuel, mines, construction, tenders, banks, supermarkets and even churches,” he said.
He argued Tagwirei has an incestuous relationship with Treasury and has received more Treasury Bills than anyone else, creating a conflict of interest that should disqualify him from holding a ministerial post.
Revisiting the Command Agriculture programme, Biti said the committee he chaired investigated Tagwirei’s companies between 2015 and 2018.
“We found over US$1 billion received, mostly in Treasury Bills. We could not find a single bag of maize or fertiliser delivered in return. Those questions have never been answered.”
Biti cited a US$360 million Treasury Bill issued to Tagwirei on 20 January 2019. Under Statutory Instrument 33 of 2019, he noted, all foreign obligations were converted to local currency, but Tagwirei’s Bill escaped the haircut.
“In June/July 2019, he flooded the market with that US dollar Bill and the RTGS collapsed. RBZ froze accounts, IMF raised concerns, then nothing,” Biti said.
He said Tagwirei has benefited from numerous other Treasury Bills with no comprehensive account from the Minister of Finance, the most notorious being the US$1.9 billion payment for a 35 per cent stake in Kuvimba Mining when it was placed under the Mutapa Fund.
“The US$1.9 billion TB was paid out without valuations or justification. This TB, like Command Agriculture, is a criminal docket on its own,” Biti argued.
Biti said Tagwirei controls Zimbabwe’s US$4 billion fuel industry and pointed to the Dema diesel plant contract as a prime example.
He said ZESA was forced to buy power from Dema at 34 US cents per kilowatt-hour while Eskom imports cost 12 cents, with the public paying the difference.
“Millions of litres of duty-free diesel for Dema were diverted and sold on the market. Zimbabweans pay some of the highest fuel prices in the region. A large part is levies and rents that ultimately end in Tagwirei’s pockets,” he said.
Biti said Tagwirei’s interests extend to land and title deeds, First Mutual Life shares, and shares in two major banks, and called for forensic audits rather than political slogans.
“These need forensic audits, not political slogans: all TBs, Command Agriculture, Dema, fuel, Kuvimba, Mutapa, Trabablas Interchange, roads, churches,” he said.
“To then place a criminal like Tagwirei in a Treasury ministry responsible for national coffers is an act of treason. It brings the country into disrepute.”
He further argued that the appointment itself is void, as Constitutional Amendment No. 3 is contested and must be decided by the courts.
“You cannot wish away the Constitution by exercising power,” Biti said.
Biti closed with a parable from Gandanzara village about a notorious cattle thief named Faranisi, who stole goats, cattle and sheep and terrorised villages.
One day, he said, Headman Zvaendwa of the Nyati totem appointed Faranisi to guard the village cattle – kuenda kujana.
“The village erupted. They went for Nyati and demanded he removes Faranisi. The cattle thief has been appointed to herd the cattle. We must not stay silent,” Biti said.
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