U.S government sanctions Zimbabwean businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei Over Corruption

Who Is Kudakwashe Tagwirei

Zimbabwean businessman Kudakwashe Tagwire is an adviser to the President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

He is also the Chief Executive Officer and Director at Sakunda Holdings Group, Tagwirei is a businessman with vast interests in the energy sector.

Kuda is a founding director of Sakunda. Prior to the founding, Kuda worked for Zimpost as an IT Consultant, before joining CBZ bank in 1996 as a Senior Manager responsible for Systems Development. In 2000, he was appointed Regional Product Manager at Interlink (Private) Limited, a telecoms support company where he was responsible for product support.

Alleged US Sanction On Kudakwashe Tagwirei Over Curruption

The U.S government Wednesday, 5 th Agust 2020 sanctioned Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a Zimbabwean businessman man who has been an adviser to the Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, over an alleged corruption case.

According to reports, Kudakwashe Tagwirei involvement in the corruption case has derailed the nation’s economic development.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. sanctions regulations, added Tagwirei and the energy company he operates, Sakunda Holdings Ltd., to its list of specially designated nationals Wednesday.

According To Bloomberg.com, –  “Tagwirei used a combination of opaque business dealings and his ongoing relationship with President Mnangagwa to grow his business empire dramatically and rake in millions of U.S. dollars,” the Treasury said in a statement. Calls to Tagwirei’s mobile phone didn’t connect when Bloomberg sought comment.

Tagwirei is known as “Queen Bee” in Zimbabwe because of his influence in the economy. His business interests span agriculture, mining, banking and the fuel industry, and he’s sealed deals in recent years with companies including commodities trader Trafigura Pte Ltd.

The sanctions come as Zimbabwe’s government struggles to stabilize an economy hobbled by inflation of mothan 700%, a collapsed currency and shortages of fuel, food and medicine.

In September, Zimbabwe’s central bank froze the accounts of Sakunda’s petroleum unit amid an investigation into Sakunda Petroleum, one of the country’s biggest suppliers, which had a government contract to provide fuel to farmers.

Payments to Sakunda for a state farm-subsidy program championed by Mnangagwa were effectively made by the central bank printing money, the Financial Times reported at the time. The disbursements led to an 80% surge in the amount of money in circulation, compared with an IMF-set target of 8% to 10%.

Sakunda said on its website that its investment in and support of command agriculture is “testament to our desire for fueling economic development and empowerment through igniting bold action in key sectors of our economy.”

Trafigura in February announced that it acquired the 51% controlling stake previously held by Sakunda in the company’s Zimbabwean operations.

In an exclusive Twitter interview with the US Secretary General, Mike Pompeo said that United States has supported a stable and democratic Zimbabwe.

“Our new sanctions against Kudakwashe Tagwirei and Sakunda Holdings today demonstrate to the government and people of Zimbabwe that the U.S. will not tolerate public corruption or hesitate to take action to promote accountability.” He said