Zimbabweans rallying against corruption. |File Photo|
Zimbabwe’s Sovereign Wealth Fund reportedly paid $1.6 billion to a set of unknown shareholders, The Sentry revealed today in a new investigation.
The massive debt-fueled transfer of public wealth, an amount equivalent to 5% of the nation’s GDP, is expected to unleash a wave of questions to determine who benefited from what could be the largest scandal in Zimbabwe’s history.
Evidence acquired by Zimbabwean media outlet The NewsHawks indicates that $1.6 billion in public debt was used by the new sovereign wealth fund, Mutapa Investment Fund, to purchase shares in a mining conglomerate with recent links to Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a presidential advisor and ruling party donor accused of corruption.
“This massive transfer of public wealth could be the largest scandal in Zimbabwe’s history; links to presidential advisor Kudakwashe Tagwirei”
The Sentry’s analysis suggests that Mutapa paid a grossly inflated price for the shares.
Nick Donovan, Senior Investigator at The Sentry, said: “Mutapa has serious questions to answer: Who got paid? How much did they get? If it is true that these unknown shareholders got paid $1.6 billion, this could be the biggest scandal in Zimbabwe’s history.”
Zimbabwe’s national debt increased by $3 billion, from $18 billion to $21 billion, in just a few months, as Treasury Bills worth almost 10% of GDP have been issued since November 2023, according to The Sentry’s sources.
Of that new debt, $1.9 billion was funneled to Mutapa, and it appears most of that was used to pay private shareholders; $900 million was allocated to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Mutapa, named after an ancient kingdom, has acquired the shares of more than 20 state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The jewel in Mutapa’s crown is Kuvimba Mining House, which owns gold, lithium, nickel, and platinum mines. In 2021, The Sentry revealed how Tagwirei was a secret owner of up to 35% of Kuvimba.
Tagwirei and Kuvimba deny he owns the shares, but authorities refuse to identify who received the $1.6 billion payment for the 35% stake.
