Award-winning journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono has said the Al Jazeera investigation unit exposed plunder of fish in Namibia some four years ago and ministers implicated were arrested.
He said the experience is different from the Zimbabwean case where individuals implicated in gold smuggling operations are being protected by the ruling ZANU PF.
In a post seen by Pindula News, Chin’ono says Zimbabweans now understand why the southern nation is suffering economically. He said:
The Al Jazeera investigation unit @AJlunit went to Namibia more than 4 years ago, and exposed how a European company was plundering fish.
That film has been watched 1.7 million times in 3 years.
The Zimbabwean Gold smuggling film has been watched 2.1 million times in 3 days.
As Zimbabweans, we now understand why we are suffering economically.
Mutsvangwa’a students companion English won’t change that reality!
The difference between Namibia and Zimbabwe is that the ministers implicated are in jail, in Zimbabwe those implicated are being defended by the ruling party.
A snake can’t bite itself!
In Namibia, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit secretly filmed officials in Namibia demanding cash in exchange for political favours.
It’s a story of how foreign companies plunder Africa’s natural resources. Using confidential documents provided to Al Jazeera by Wikileaks, “Anatomy of a Bribe” exposes the government ministers and public officials willing to sell off Namibia’s assets in return for millions of dollars in bribes.
Al Jazeera journalists spent three months undercover posing as foreign investors looking to exploit the lucrative Namibian fishing Industry.
The country’s Minister of Fisheries is shown willing to use a front company to accept a $200 000 ‘donation’. Exclusive testimony from a whistleblower who worked for Iceland’s largest fishing company reveals that his employers instructed him to bribe ministers and even the president in return for fishing rights worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Chin’ono’s comparison of the Namibian and the Zimbabwean cases comes when Al Jazeera released the first of four episodes of its documentary – Gold Mafia – which exposes the illicit gold trade in Zimbabwe.
Earlier, Pindula News reported that the Al Jazeera documentary implicates a number of prominent individuals in the gold smuggling scandal. These include Henrietta Rushwaya, Uebert Angel, Simon Rudland, Lamkesh Pattni.
It also implicates institutions such as Fidelity Printers and Refineries and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA).
Smuggling is a big problem in Zimbabwe, and it is hurting the country’s economy.
The country is losing billions of dollars because of the illegal trade of goods like gold, tobacco, fuel, and diamonds.
The government estimates that $1.5 billion is lost each year due to gold smuggling and $300 million due to tobacco smuggling. Fuel shortages have also contributed to smuggling, which results in the loss of revenue for the government.