Drax International has denied any links with Zimbabwe’s First Family following reports that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son, Collins, is a business partner of Delish Nguwaya, the company’s representative in Zimbabwe.
Leaked documents have shown that Drax International was paid nearly US$1 million by the government of Zimbabwe for a consignment of COVID-19 equipment at an inflated cost.
In a statement on Thursday, the firm asserted that it has “never met, communicated or done any business with any members of the first family.” Below is the statement in its entirety:
We have noted with concern that some defamatory publications continue to make unsubstantiated claims that we are in partnership and/or associated with Zimbabwe’s first family.
We have never met, communicated or done any business with any members of the first family.
In an article published by The Anchor’ on 21 April 2020, we stated that all our dealings are above board and that we do not work with any politicians in Zimbabwe.
The same articles are devoid of credibility in that no attempt(s) were made to obtain comments from any of the individuals mentioned.
Further, no attempts were made to obtain our comments and views on these malicious allegations. All allegations associating us with politicians are calculated at discrediting our good service record internationally and in Zimbabwe.
All Zimbabwean procurement laws were followed by our compliance arm and we are delivering in terms of an agreement that is extant.
Mr Dilesh Nguwaya is our sole representative in Zimbabwe and his mandate is limited. We reserve our right to take legal action against publications that continue to publish falsehoods and associate us with politically exposed persons.
We shall approach all publications that peddled this false information and demand unequivocal retractions. We shall sue all individuals propagating these falsehoods on social media.
Meanwhile, Nguwaya has been in and out of the courts facing charges of fraud and extortion committed while impersonating as a Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officer or Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) officer.