Sakupwanya
The
company
has
been
paid
nearly
US$100
million
by
the
government
in
what
insiders
describe
as
a
deeply
fraudulent
and
corrupt
gold
incentive
scheme.
According
to
confidential
government
documents
obtained
by The
NewsHawks,
the
transaction
has
exposed
serious
financial
mismanagement
by
the
Ministry
of
Finance,
Economic
Development
and
Investment
Promotion
(MoFEDIP),
led
by
permanent
secretary
George
Guvamatanga.
The
deal,
originally
pegged
at
US$60
million,
ballooned
to
nearly
US$100
million
under
questionable
circumstances.
The
documents
show
that
Gaingrid
was
contracted
by
the
government
and
the
Reserve
Bank
of
Zimbabwe
(RBZ)
to
buy
and
sell
gold
in
a
bid
to
bolster
the
country’s
bullion
reserves.
The
company
was
to
receive
a
5%
incentive
for
every
ounce
of
gold
delivered
to
Fidelity
Printers
and
Refiners,
a
state-owned
entity.
War
veterans’
leader
Blessed
Geza
confirmed
that
Gaingrid
is
linked
to
Sakupwanya,
a
well-known
gold
trader
and
close
associate
of
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa.
However,
company
records
remain
opaque,
with
no
clear
identification
of
its
directors.
Despite
the
lack
of
transparency,
government
records
show
that
Guvamatanga
authorised
payments
totalling
nearly
US$100
million
to
Gaingrid,
far
exceeding
the
originally
claimed
US$60
million.
The
overpayment
has
raised
alarm
over
the
potential
misuse
of
public
funds,
with
suspicions
that
as
much
as
US$36
million
may
have
been
diverted
as
kickbacks
or
“money
for
the
boys”.
In
a
letter
dated
7
April
2025,
Ministry
of
Finance
senior
economist
Itai
Munaki
confirmed
to
Ecobank
Zimbabwe
Managing
Director
Moses
Kurenjekwa
that
the
government
still
owed
Gaingrid
US$36
million,
with
US$6
million
scheduled
for
payment
within
seven
days.
In
another
earlier
letter
dated
4
September
2024,
Guvamatanga
wrote
to
Kurenjekwa
outlining
a
“collateralised
facility”
in
which
the
ministry
undertook
to
“irrevocably
pay
Gaingrid
monthly
instalments
of
at
least
US$8
million”
over
12
months
—
a
total
of
US$96
million.
This
arrangement,
coupled
with
the
US$20
million
cash
discount
facility
arranged
through
Ecobank,
suggests
the
state
may
have
committed
to
more
than
US$100
million
in
repayments.
Legal
experts
say
the
deal
violates
the Public
Finance
Management
Act
[Chapter
22:19],
which
vests
borrowing
powers
exclusively
in
the
Minister
of
Finance
—
not
the
permanent
secretary.
According
to
Section
54
of
the
Act,
only
the
minister
may
authorise
borrowing
via
Treasury
Bills,
bonds,
or
advances.
“This
is
outright
illegal.
Guvamatanga
has
no
mandate
under
the
law
to
make
these
borrowing
arrangements,”
said
a
senior
lawyer
familiar
with
the
matter.
The
murky
financial
engineering
also
involved
the
discounting
of
Treasury
Bills
—
government
debt
instruments
typically
offered
at
a
reduced
rate
to
raise
quick
funds.
In
this
case,
Ecobank
reportedly
discounted
US$60
million
in
government
liabilities
to
Gaingrid
to
US$20
million
—
a
move
seen
as
a
deliberate
attempt
to
mask
the
real
cost
of
the
transaction
and
facilitate
fraud.
Sources
familiar
with
the
matter
described
the
arrangement
as
a
“venal
transaction
fuelled
by
bribery
and
corruption.”
“There
is
method
in
the
madness,”
one
source
told The
NewsHawks,
hinting
at
systematic
looting.
This
scandal
follows
closely
on
the
heels
of
another
controversial
deal
in
which
Guvamatanga
is
accused
of
authorising
an
“illegal
and
unconstitutional”
US$20
million
bank
guarantee
to
Valley
Seeds,
a
company
reportedly
linked
to
the
government’s
command
agriculture
programme.
In
that
case,
Ecobank
was
also
involved,
and
the
Treasury
committed
to
paying
back
the
discounted
loan
in
US$5
million
monthly
instalments
over
a
year
—
totalling
US$60
million.
Former
Finance
Minister
Tendai
Biti
condemned
the
transactions
as
“looting
on
a
grand
scale.”
Efforts
to
contact
Guvamatanga
for
comment
were
unsuccessful,
as
his
mobile
phone
was
unreachable
at
the
time
of
publication.
Critics
say
these
scandals
are
just
the
tip
of
the
iceberg
in
a
government
increasingly
reliant
on
opaque
financial
instruments
and
politically
connected
companies
to
manage
national
resources.
With
inflation
soaring
and
the
majority
of
Zimbabweans
struggling
under
the
weight
of
an
economic
crisis,
revelations
of
such
large-scale
corruption
are
likely
to
deepen
public
anger
and
erode
trust
in
state
institutions.
Post
published
in:
Business