Zaac claims its investigating oil baron Tagwirei and his alleged cartel

By Nyashadzashe Ndoro

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) on Sunday said it is currently engaged with allegations that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s allies, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, Billy Rautenbach and Tafadzwa Musarara, are the most corrupt individuals in Zimbabwe.

These allegations were made by the two suspended Zanu PF youth league bosses Lewis Matutu and Godfrey Tsenengamu while addressing an unsanctioned press conference in Harare last week.

Zacc spokesperson John Makamure said Matutu and Tsenengamu had already launched a report with them last but were asked to bring with them the requisite evidence.

“They came the following day after their first press conference (last week Monday) and we listened to them.

“We requested for any evidence that they might have.

“We are (still) waiting for that evidence,” Makamure said.

“We said they should assist us with any evidence, not to say we are not investigating.

“We are investigating.

“If anyone makes a report, we investigate. We request those who file complaints to also assist with evidence. It makes our job easier.

“We met them; we asked for evidence and we are waiting for that evidence; not to say we are not looking into that issue, no,” he added.

Tsenengamu claimed on Friday that they had submitted evidence to Zacc while at a press conference not attended by Matutu.

The naming of the three business tycoons as part of cartels bleeding the country’s economy has shaken the ruling Zanu PF party, amid reports that there were elements in the party who were compromised and benefitting from alleged corrupt activities.

Others said the fight was a reflection of internal fissures within the ruling party. The infighting boiled over at the Zanu PF politburo meeting last week.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, a Zanu PF politburo member, posited at the weekend that part of the fight was over control of the Feruka oil pipeline and attempts to take it away from the cartel.

“There is the denial to Zimbabwe of an eponymous financial and logistics service industry as it carters for the sub-region.

“Limpopo and other northern regions of South Africa would be drinking from Mabvuku, just as traditional clients Congo and Zambia, southern Malawi and central Mozambique,” Mutsvangwa said of the benefits of the pipeline to Zimbabwe if “rescued” from the cartel.

Meanwhile, the newly appointed acting Zanu PF secretary for administration in the youth league, Tendai Chirau, said the war against corruption would not be won overnight as it needed hard evidence from those who claim it exists.

“The youth league remains deeply and heartily perturbed about the calamitous effects of corruption on the national economic growth and recovery.

“We are genuinely aware of the existence of institutions which are constitutionally mandated to combat corruption such as the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and Special Anti-Corruption Unit to aid the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the National Prosecution Authority and the Judicial Services Commission,” Chirau said.

“It is against this background that the youth league, as a vanguard of the ruling Zanu PF, are petitioning for perseverance from our patriotic youth since such an arduous fight cannot be won overnight.

“It must be borne in mind that most corruption cases fail on account of dearth of empirical evidence,” he said.

Meanwhile, senior Zacc officials have said the anti- corruption body had forwarded over 100 dockets to the National Prosecuting Authority, which had reportedly taken no action on them. Nehanda Radio