Queen Bee Saga 2018

The Queen B saga was a conspiracy theory which had it that a cartel led by Kudakwashe Tagwirei was the financial muscle and King makers within ZANU-PF. The existence of the Queen B believed to be (Tagwirei and his group of financial oligarchs) was mentioned by Acie Lumumba after he was appointed by Mthuli Ncube as the chairman of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development communication task force.^[1]

It was also alleged on social media that Queen B was also placing a wedge between Emmerson Mnangagwa and Constantino Chiwenga. Queen B was also believed to have backed Emmerson Mnangagwa's bid to succeed Robert Mugabe in the factional fights between the Lacoste, Zanu-PF Faction and the G40 (Zanu-PF Faction).

The saga was seen as part of a behind-the-scenes turf war between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga with Queen B backing Chiwenga.^[2]

Lumumba's claims

Lumumba sensationally claimed that a mysterious figure, one he was only brave enough to give the name of ‘Queen B’, had captured both Zanu PF and the government with proceeds from his fuel cartel.^[3]

In a Facebook live stream video, Lumumba named RBZ Director Bank Supervision Norman Mataruka, Director Financial Markets Azvinandaa Saburi, Director Financial Intelligence Mirirai Chiremba and Head of Security Gresham Muradzikwa, accusing them of crimes ranging from off-the-books bond notes to corrupt allocation of foreign currency .

LATEST: Acie Lumumba Speaks... Is Kudakwashe Tagwirei Queen Bee ????

Consequences of Lumumba's claims

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor John Mangudya indefinitely suspended four senior managers on allegations of corruption raised against them by the chairperson Acie Lumumba.

Government through the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services seemingly distanced Ncube from Lumumba. The Information Ministry said that Mthuli Ncube did not have spokesperson outside of the government and said that Lumumba’s appointment was to come into effect as the Minister was still formalising the requirements of the Civil Service Commission and the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ), formerly the State Procurement Board (SPB).

After his FaceBook sentiments, Lumumba was fired after only serving one day in office.

Lumumba's response to sacking

Lumumba dismissed the information ministry’s statement, saying bureaucrats there were “captured”. He vowed to continue with his job.

Said Lumumba:

Many senior gvt officials spent their day making calls & sending orders for & on behalf of Queen B, lots of money paid. The capture goes high! One Ministry(except it’s Minister) is so captured the only thing it updated the country on today was ME. Do your job, let me do mine

Lumumba insisted that he was not fired by the ministry of finance and he was coming back to unmask the shadowy ‘Queen B’ whom he said was the most corrupt individual in the country.

Lumumba made a sudden change and accused Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya of being the infamous “Queen Bee”. Lumumba had previously claimed that Mangudya was clean and accused four senior directors at the RBZ of corruption and involvement in the foreign currency black market. Lumumba also apologised to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga for getting involved in matters that are beyond his pay grade. Writing on social media, Lumumba said:

This is a public apology to the President and his VP for getting myself involved in matters beyond my pay grade. I have never received any money from Prof Mthuli and I wish him all the best in his job, he’s a smart man. The path I intended to take tonight is not good for me. I have since unearthed some details that I am not protected enough to share at the moment. Munondichekeresa. I will, however, tell you this for those wish to pursue this life-limiting path. Queen Bee is not Kuda Tagwirei. It’s JPM. I had missed it all along, he has played us and them all, the signature responsible for the failure and closure of businesses is JPM. The signature responsible for playing puppet master with industry is JPM. The signature responsible for introduction of new vocabulary to us such as bond notes/RTGS/Nostro/Rate/Transfer/Zipit/basket of currencies etc. Language never or little used anywhere else in the world. Most quiet guy in the room plays the fool and has watched them all come and go since he was just a mere bank officer. JPM could possibly be the richest human being in this country. You don’t believe me? Audit him.

^[4]

Christopher Mutsvangwa's assertion

Christopher Mutsvangwa launched an astonishing attack against Kudakwashe Tagwirei, claiming that he was a source of divisions in the Presidium.

Mutsvangwa also revealed that Tagwirei was being given preferential treatment in the allocation of foreign currency for the importation of fuel, which he said had created a monopoly in the fuel industry.^[2]

Mutsvangwa was accused of being the brains behind the “leak” of the alleged intelligence report linking Tagwirei to illegal foreign currency deals and a fuel cartel. However, Mutsvangwa denied working with Lumumba before launching an unrestrained attack on Tagwirei.

Said Mutsvangwa:

He is dividing the presidium. How can a businessman have preferences in the presidium? That is trying to turn the country into a banana republic,” Mutsvangwa said, without clarifying Tagwirei’s leanings in the presidium. Tagwirei’s business gets about US$80 to US$90 million every month for fuel from the RBZ, yet many companies, some of them largest fuel dealers in the world, want to come and invest in the fuel industry in the country. You can ask [Energy] minister Joram Gumbo. There are many who want to come. We can’t have a whole country for one man.

Joram Gumbo 's assertion

Joram Gumbo denied the existence of a cartel in the fuel sector. He said that government had de-regulated the importation of fuel and reports of the existence of a monopoly or cartel were baseless and without foundation.