Finance Secretary George Guvamatanga at centre of US$1 billion kickback storm
HARARE – The Parliament of Zimbabwe has received reports implicating the Finance and Economic Development Permanent Secretary, George Guvamatanga, in an alleged kickback scheme involving Treasury payments to ministries, departments, and contractors.
The allegations were publicly revealed on Thursday by Energy Mutodi, the Chairperson of Parliament’s Budget Committee, who also disclosed that he has since been threatened.
According to submissions before the Budget Committee, Guvamatanga who is commonly referred to as “GG”, is accused of demanding between 5 and 10 percent of every payment released by Treasury.
Lawmakers were told that entities refusing to pay such commissions have reportedly faced lengthy delays in receiving funds, even where allocations were budgeted for.
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The allegations suggest that Guvamatanga may have accumulated wealth exceeding US$1 billion, making him one of the richest civil servants in the country.
Reports also claim he owns more than 5,000 dairy cattle, extensive dairy equipment, and multiple properties, raising calls for a formal lifestyle audit.
“Contractors, Ministries and Departments refusing to pay Guvamatanga a kick back of at least 5% after receiving Treasury payments have been denied payments for several months even if the funds are budgeted for,” Mutodi stated.
“Over the past six months, Parliament itself has struggled to operate after being denied its budgeted funds by George Guvamatanga.
“A civil servant earning less than US$1000 GG has more than 5000 dairy cattle, dairy equipment and several mansions, hence the proposed lifestyle audit.”
Mutodi said the parliament itself has been affected, with operations hampered over the past six months after budgeted allocations were allegedly withheld.
According to the former Goromonzi legislator, one contractor, Bitumen, reportedly complained to MPs that it had been asked to pay US$200,000 for every US$2 million in weekly payments processed by Treasury.
Mutodi is reported to have received threats after the committee considered initiating a lifestyle audit on the Permanent Secretary and pushing for an investigation by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
Former opposition Citizens Coalition for Change legislator Gift Ostallos Siziba described the claims as symptomatic of wider systemic corruption:
“These grave allegations by Parliament are not just about one man’s greed. They are a damning indictment of the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank, and the entire regime that facilitates corruption on such a grotesque scale.
“We have consistently raised the issue of grand-scale looting that continues to bleed our already broken economy while millions languish in poverty,” he said.
