President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga, or their associates and relatives, allegedly received $3 million from a controversial South African businessman, Zunaid Moti, during the 2017 coup that ousted former President Robert Mugabe.
Moti has extensive business interests in Zimbabwe and was awarded controversial contracts towards the end of Mugabe’s reign. The information was obtained from confidential papers by The Sentry, a US-based investigative and policy organisation. The papers show that Moti moved up to $130 million into the accounts of 28 companies and four individuals in Zimbabwe from 2017, some of which took place during the coup.
The papers also reveal close ties between Moti and Zimbabwe’s highest-ranking politicians and evidence of dubious multimillion-dollar transactions.
ACF, Moti’s company, had formed a joint venture with the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and hired Mnangagwa’s son as a consultant. Moti’s firms allegedly paid $130 million in 595 instalments to a mix of established firms, companies whose records are missing, and politically-linked entities in Zimbabwe. The Sentry reported:
In December 2017 and January 2018, the payments included $1 million to Mnangagwa’s farm and $2 million to a company controlled by Chiwengs’s’ investment manager’ and someone reported to be the retired general’s niece.
In a separate commercial transaction in February 2018, ACF also allegedly paid $100 000 to Justice George Chiweshe, as part of a wider deal to mine chrome in concession areas controlled by a firm he chaired.
The timing of the November 17, 2017, deal raises the question of whether there is a connection to the coup,” The Sentry reported.
Following Zimbabwe African National Union—Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) factional infighting throughout the year, Mnangagwa fled Zimbabwe after being fired as Vice-President by President Robert Mugabe on November 6, 2017.
In November 2017, Constantino Chiwenga, who was the head of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, took control of Harare and persuaded former President Robert Mugabe to step down.
After Mugabe’s resignation, High Court Judge President Chiweshe ruled that the military’s actions were constitutional and annulled the dismissal of Emmerson Mnangagwa, paving the way for him to become president. Mnangagwa later named Chiwenga as his deputy. The military claimed that the coup was to remove criminals surrounding Mugabe, but few were arrested.
Recently, Al Jazeera aired a documentary alleging money laundering and gold smuggling by syndicates linked to Mnangagwa’s family.