By Staff Reporter
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has once again pledged zero tolerance for tender manipulation and corrupt practices, which continue to plague Zimbabwe and undermine service delivery.
His latest remarks, delivered Thursday at the Construction Industry Federation of Zimbabwe annual congress in Masvingo, come just days after he reportedly presented an explosive corruption dossier at a Zanu PF Politburo meeting in Harare.
The dossier is said to have stoked tensions within the ruling party, allegedly prompting President Emmerson Mnangagwa to cut short his trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This at a time when Zimbabwe is lobbying for a seat on the UN Security Council.
“We cannot and will not tolerate corruption, tender manipulation, or unethical dealings that undermine confidence and compromise delivery,” Chiwenga declared.
He painted a grim picture of the damage corruption has done to Zimbabwe’s global reputation, stressing that economic growth rests on honesty and sacrifice.
“All thriving economies the world over were built through sacrifice, honesty, and hard work,” he said. “Unethical dealings result in public outrage and diminished consumer confidence, which can significantly damage the reputation of companies and individuals, ultimately affecting future business opportunities and national development.”
Chiwenga has previously derided corrupt business figures as “zvigananda”, a Shona term describing those who amass ill-got wealth. While he has not publicly named tycoons such as Wicknell Chivayo, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, or Paul Tungwarara, reports suggest their names feature in the dossier he presented to the Politburo.
Controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo has been implicated in a US$40 million tender awarded by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to supply electoral materials for the 2023 general elections, where prices were allegedly inflated by 235%. He was also linked to a scandal over a government contract worth approximately US$437 million for the supply of cancer treatment equipment, awarded without a transparent tendering process.
Mnangagwa’s adviser to the UAE, Paul Tungwarara, through his company Prevail Group International, was contracted under the Presidential Borehole Scheme to drill thousands of solar-powered boreholes across the country, a tender critics say was awarded opaquely.
Similarly, Sakunda Holdings, a company linked to Kudakwashe Tagwirei, secured contracts worth over US$1 billion to supply inputs under Zimbabwe’s Command Agriculture scheme without an open tender, with more than US$280 million in funds reported as unaccounted for.
The VP’s anti-graft salvo comes amid an intensifying succession battle between factions loyal to Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, with some analysts warning the rift could escalate to a coup.
Mnangagwa recently reshuffled the Politburo, demoting Chiwenga ally Obert Mpofu from the influential post of Secretary General to a less significant ICT portfolio—an apparent move to weaken Chiwenga’s hand in the power struggle.