Source: Getty/AFP /  Kudakwashe Regimond Tagwirei,  Zimbabwe businessman

DIPLOMATIC TIMES STAFF

The United States Wednesday slapped sanctions on  businessman Kudakwashe  Tagwirei and his firm Sakunda Holdings  for materially assisting senior Zimbabwean government officials involved in public corruption.  “Tagwirei has longstanding ties to the ruling party in Zimbabwe and high-level governmental officials, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa and First Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who were listed in the Annex to E.O. 13288 in March 2003. He has used his relationships to gain state contracts and receive favored access to hard currency, including U.S. dollars, especially in the Mnangagwa era,” according to a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo.  According to the U.S. Department of State Tagwirei is a “notoriously corrupt”  Zimbabwean businessman.   Government audit reports prompted a 2019 parliamentary inquiry into whether public funds were misappropriated, revealing the government had failed to account for about $3 billion disbursed under the Command Agriculture program, a state farm subsidy championed by President Mnangagwa and largely financed by Sakunda Holdings, according to the U.S. Department of State.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control concurrently removed today from the sanctions list a deceased person, John Bredenkamp, and associated entities who were previously designated under E.O. 13469.  This action ensures the sanctions list remains up to date and targets actors who actively undermine democracy in Zimbabwe, the Department of State said.

“The United States supports a stable and democratic Zimbabwe.  Our actions today demonstrate to the government and people of Zimbabwe that the United States does not tolerate public corruption and will promote accountability for perpetrators of public corruption.”

-Secretary of State Pompeo