From Shadows to Power, Tough Times For Businessman Come Political Activist

The Rise of Kudakwashe Tagwirei and the Capture of Zimbabwe’s Political Economy….

By Shingirai Vambe

HARARE – In the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s 2017 military-assisted transition, which ousted long-time ruler Robert Mugabe and ushered in Emmerson Mnangagwa as President, a previously unknown figure began to emerge at the center of Zimbabwe’s economic and political matrix. Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a businessman with a seemingly invisible past, catapulted into public consciousness following the death of his father — an event that drew the President and top government officials to his rural homestead, leaving many Zimbabweans asking: “Who is Tagwirei?”

What followed was a rapid and well-orchestrated rise. Known for heading Sakunda Holdings, Tagwirei was soon awarded stewardship over Command Agriculture, a government-backed farming scheme that Parliament has failed to fully account for to this day. Auditor-General Mildred Chiri warned of massive losses tied to the program, describing it as riddled with irregularities and operating without financial transparency or accountability.

She reported, through the then Permanent Secretary, Ringson Chitsiko and Ministry of Finance director, Peter Mudzamiri, a handsome US $3 billion missing and never accounted during the 2016-17 farming season and there were no records to show how the money was used.

Unknown to the public at the time, Command Agriculture was just the beginning. It marked the birth of what has since grown into a web of state-sanctioned tenders and monopolies linked to Tagwirei, whose empire has flourished under the patronage of the ruling party, ZANU-PF. These arrangements, masked as development initiatives, have reportedly enriched a small elite while draining public coffers.

The extent of Tagwirei’s grip on the state was dramatically exposed by ZANU-PF’s own spokesperson, Christopher Mutsvangwa, who launched a rare public rebuke. Mutsvangwa accused Tagwirei of bypassing the party’s internal democratic processes by muscling into ZANU-PF’s Central Committee using money and material inducements.

“We know where this money is coming from. It’s created right here at the party headquarters,” said Mutsvangwa, fuming at the use of cash and luxury vehicles — particularly GD6 pickup trucks , to buy loyalty and political influence.

This internal revolt laid bare what opposition figures and economic analysts have long warned of, that Zimbabwe’s ruling party has become a political marketplace, where influence is auctioned to the highest bidder, and where loyalty is rewarded not with merit, but with tenders and patronage.

Once a cornerstone of Zimbabwe’s liberation war promises, the land reform program, touted as a tool for black empowerment, has in reality served ZANU-PF elites and their cronies. While thousands of ordinary citizens remain landless or farm on poor soil with no support, white commercial farmers with connections to ruling party insiders have quietly retained their estates.

This “land for the few” policy has reinforced inequalities and left rural communities, the majority of voters, locked in a cycle of poverty, with little to show for the promises of the revolution.

Whispers within political corridors suggest Tagwirei’s ambitions may go beyond economics. His proximity to power has sparked speculation that he is positioning himself for higher political office — perhaps even the presidency.

Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti, a fierce critic of both the government and Zimbabwe’s financial manipulation, issued a scathing denunciation of Tagwirei’s influence. In a public address, Biti detailed how a $360 million Treasury Bill, injected into the local market by Tagwirei in 2019, triggered a currency collapse that sent Zimbabwe’s economy into chaos.

“This powerful cartel destroyed our currency in one day,” Biti charged. “If someone can crash the economy at will, that person holds the nation hostage. It’s insane to imagine that such a man has presidential ambitions.”

Biti went further, calling ZANU-PF a party “reduced to a commodity”, bought and sold for vehicles, fuel coupons, and business favors.

“What kind of country have we become? The spirits of liberation heroes like Joshua Nkomo and Josiah Tongogara must be turning in their graves,” he lamented. “The party and the revolution have been sold for a few trinkets.”

The growing rift within ZANU-PF, the erosion of constitutional rule, and the economic stranglehold of politically connected businessmen like Tagwirei point to a nation veering dangerously off course. Amid attempts to amend term limits and bypass democratic processes, Zimbabwe finds itself at a crossroads, not unlike the one it stood on in 1980.

This time, however, the threat is not colonialism, but elite capture, state decay, and democracy for sale.

“We will fight this. We will defend the Constitution,” vowed Biti, amid discussions about attempts to extend presidential term limits without the mandatory referendums. “ZANU-PF cannot rewrite the law to benefit a few. The people must rise.”

As 2028 edges closer, the true battle in Zimbabwe may not be about elections, but about reclaiming the very soul of a nation, from the grip of cartels and corrupt elites, and returning it to the people whose names are etched in the scars of Chimurenga.

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