Outrage has spread throughout the nation following revelations of gold smuggling by persons connected to Zimbabwean government leaders and the ruling party in an Al Jazeera programme.
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) produced the four-part documentary The Gold Mafia, which was based on thousands of documents and hundreds of undercover operations over three continents.
It revealed how enormous quantities of gold are covertly trafficked each month from Zimbabwe, Africa’s sixth-largest gold producer, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, facilitating money laundering through a complex web of shell businesses, fictitious invoices, and corrupt officials.
Since March 2021, Uebert Angel has served as the president’s representative and ambassador-at-large to Europe and the Americas. In a covert video, he boasted that he could move $1.2 billion with ease because of his diplomatic immunity.
Henrietta Rushwaya, the president of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation, who is thought to be the niece of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Kamlesh Pattni, a businessman who was previously embroiled in a gold smuggling scandal in Kenya, are among the other people filmed or identified in the documentary as being involved in smuggling rings.
Pattni still retains close ties to the ruling party despite “knighting” Robert Mugabe as King of Kings in March 2012 by presenting the late leader with a black robe and gold crown.
Rushwaya was detained at the Harare airport in October 2020 for attempting to carry gold to Dubai. Although the National Prosecuting Authority has stated that there is insufficient evidence to support a conviction, her case is still pending.
The film’s allegations have stirred much controversy in Zimbabwe.
According to government estimates, illegal gold trading has long been projected to cost Zimbabwe $100 million per month.
Years of poor economic management have left the nation suffering from high unemployment and inflation. The World Bank estimates that half of the nation’s 16 million residents live in extreme poverty and make $30 or less per month.
Government critics claim the documentary has once again revealed the extent of corruption in Zimbabwe, where there have been numerous charges of pervasive corruption having an adverse influence on the economy.
Offline reactions
Zimbabweans have urged prompt justice to be meted out to those named in the movie.
A 45-year-old Harare street hawker named Angirayi Moyowatidhi expressed his disgust over what he claimed was systematic resource robbery.
“When we were growing up, we were told of how the colonial regime of Cecil John Rhodes to Ian Smith looted our country’s resources and externalized them to the United Kingdom. Now, we are witnessing the same process save for the fact that this is being done by our elected Black leaders,” Moyowatidhi told Al Jazeera.
“The people who are involved in gold smuggling and breaking the country’s laws to profit from gold must be arrested no matter their stations and positions in life,” Gift Gadza, a 29-year self-employed youth in Harare, told Al Jazeera.
“Ordinary people like me are suffering while other people are living pretty from gold looting. I think we need to unite as people and protest against the looting of resources in the country,” Gadza said.
African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) spokesman Chris Mutsvangwa accused the West of trying to incite public resentment by airing the documentary.
“The country’s detractors, who coalesced around George Soros and his Open Society Institute of Southern Africa are clearly miffed and terribly disappointed that Zimbabwe has reverted to and resurrected gold as the reference anchor of the US Dollar,” said Mutsvangwa in a statement.
“Countries under sanctions have to find ways of circumventing the sanctions,” government spokesman Nick Mangwana said in a tweet, drawing widespread criticism from users. “This may mean having to procure supplies through third parties or sell in grey market.”
The incident has been trending on Twitter across the nation since Friday as a result of public outrage.
Other Twitter users have gone on to demand Mnangagwa’s resignation.
“Emmerson Mnangagwa is the criminal surrounding Zimbabwe. We call on all patriotic Zimbabweans to join us in our call for the President to step down. This is not about Ubert but his employer the number 1. To the Police, Soldiers this message is for you too,” Team Pachedu tweeted.
Some of those fingered in the documentary have denied the charges.
“The reality is that the Ambassador has never traded in gold or moved cash for anyone,” a statement from Angel said, challenging anyone with evidence to the contrary to come forward. “It is clear from the documentary that Ambassador Angel and his team were never shown trading gold.
“These utterances [in the documentary] were made with the aim of getting the true picture of these fake investors and it became clear that the intelligence operatives were 100% correct,” it added.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
