Zimbabwe: VP Chiwenga Vows to Deal With Corrupt Individuals With Unexplained Wealth – As Tagwirei, Kasukuwere Trade Accusations
VICE President Constantino Chiwenga has vowed to deal with corrupt business people with unexplained or untraceable wealth, calling their operations muddy and economically corrosive.
His comments come a day after businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei ignited a war of words with exiled former Zanu PF member Saviour Kasukuwere, with both men accusing each other of grand corruption.
Chiwenga, who was speaking at the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) congress in Victoria Falls on Thursday, further described these questionable businesses as phantom entrepreneurship whose money dropped like manna from heaven.
He is known to be against the ‘arrogant’ flamboyance of tenderpreneur Wicknel Chivayo, whose source of wealth has been questioned by the public and investigated by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) to no known end.
“We must shun unscrupulous so-called businesspeople operating from briefcases with no traceable capital or legitimate enterprise,” said Chiwenga.
“This culture of phantom entrepreneurship, where money appears without any known source, is not only economically corrosive but ethically bankrupt.
“We all know that money does not fall from the heavens like manna, real businesses are built through hard work, discipline, sacrifice, and value creation.
“The day of reckoning is inevitable for those who undermine our economic integrity by engaging in shadowy dealings. Let us not mortgage our nation’s future to fleeting gain. There can be no room for rent-seeking behaviours or muddy practices in a modern, competitive economy”.
Tagwirei and Kasukuwere, on the other hand, have been at each other’s throats, with the former naming the latter on a list he claims is of people who accuse him of corruption but are themselves corrupt.
“As for Kasukuwere, he is one of the most corrupt people I know,” said Tagwirei.
Kasukuwere, seemingly rattled by the former’s recent forays into politics, has been pointing out Tagwirei’s flaws, including arguing that he is positioning himself to take over the presidency by paying people, telling them that he is anointed, and pushing the narrative that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is sick.
The former Zanu PF political commissar described Tagwirei as a frog that jumped key positions within the party to land in its central committee.
“A good fraudster is not necessarily a good politician. Trying to turn a thief into a leader is the ultimate betrayal of the revolutionary party by a reactionary leader.
“The game has begun and that rimming mouth will not be opened again,” said Kasukuwere on X.
Both men have been beneficiaries of a Zanu PF-controlled economic empowerment system, Kasukuwere having benefited from late president Robert Mugabe, while Tagwirei has been a major beneficiary under Mnangagwa.
The relationship between Chiwenga and Tagwirei has not been explored despite the former army general sending coded messages against activities either linked or perceived to be linked to Tagwirei.
By New Zimbabwe.
