IMAGES Daily Maverick| PART1: A tell all Maverick Citizen report which is a post mortem of the rot that killed the Zimbabwean dream of freedom and independence identifies President Emmerson Mnangagwa as one of the cartel bosses looting the country.

Ironically, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has been a public critic of illicit financial transfers, is identified by the report as one of the cartel bosses whose patronage and protection keeps cartels operating.

According to Pindula News, the 64-page report which details the scale of the theft among others illicit cross-border financial crimes is being published in South Africa.

The report, “A Study of Cartel Dynamics” notes that underhand dealings cost Zimbabwe up to a staggering US$3-billion a year and billions in gold and diamonds smuggled out of the country.

Maverick Citizen claims that the report was last week sent to Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa, Isaac Moyo, and all those implicated in the report seeking their comments but they did not respond.

Illustrative image | Sources: Zimbabwe’s president Emmerson Mnangagwa | Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. (Photos: Getty Im

The publication says the report focuses on business cartels because these are the vehicles used for state capture.

An anonymous expert who was asked to review the report pointed out that normally cartels work to undermine the state but in Zimbabwe, however, they are in league with the highest people in the land.

The report also explains that because cartels and corrupt economic behaviour are “by their very nature secretive… it is difficult to accurately measure how much wealth the citizens of Zimbabwe have lost because of cartel activities.”

Nevertheless, the authors of the report provide several examples that point to the sheer scale of the theft:

  • Illicit cross-border financial transactions cost Zimbabwe between $570-million and $3-billion a year;
  • Intra-country fraud associated with cartels could cost up to $1-billion every year;
  • According to a 2020 report by the International Crisis Group, up to $1.5-billion worth of gold per year is illegally smuggled out of the country;
  • Billions of dollars in diamonds go unaccounted for; and
  • In 2018 Zimbabwe’s auditor-general noted that 82% of government expenditure had financial irregularity in one form or another.

Maverick Citizen