Business tycoon Tagwirei, Mnangagwa Jnr part of Mnangagwa trip

admin February 8, 2023

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Staff Writer

CONTROVERSIAL business mogul Kuda Tagwirei and Emmerson Mnangagwa Junior are among the entourage accompanying President Mnangagwa in Equatorial Guinea.

The State visit marks the second time Mnangagwa has made a trip to Equatorial Guinea as he scouts for business opportunities from the oil rich country.

Tuesday Mnangagwa signed several business agreements with Theodore Obiang Nguema’s government.

However it is the inclusion of Mnangagwa’s son and his close ally Tagwirei on the State visit that has raised eyebrows.

Using his microblogging Twitter account under pseudonym Tinoedzazvimwe, George Charamba – who is also in Equatorial Guinea – laughed off cronyism allegations levelled against Mnangagwa for including his ally and son.

Emmerson Junior was recently added to the list of individuals sanctioned by the United States (US) with Washington claiming that he was the main link between the Zanu PF leader and Tagwirei.

“President Mnangagwa’s son and has been in charge of the president’s business interests related to Tagwirei,” said the US treasury department.

Tagwirei was himself sanctioned by the US in August 2020 for alleged corruption.

Said the US treasury department in a recent press release, “Tagwirei has utilized his relationships with high-level Zimbabwean officials to gain state contracts and receive favoured access to hard currency, including U.S. dollars.

“In turn, Tagwirei has provided high priced items, such as expensive cars, to senior-level Zimbabwean government officials.

“Since former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s 2017 departure, Tagwirei used a combination of opaque business dealings and his ongoing relationship with President Mnangagwa to grow his business empire dramatically and rake in millions of U.S. dollars.”

Meanwhile Emmerson Junior also raised eyebrows on social media when he appeared in images of a private lunch his father held with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Responding to questions by a local publication over the issue, presidential spokesperson George Charamba said; “that was a lunch. A private lunch. The President has a right to bring in part of his household because that is a social function. It does not need books.

“Did you not see the table full of food? If you did not see the food, it means the food was yet to be placed on the table. There is nothing that you need to understand.”