Former first lady Grace Mugabe has a couple of questions to answer to the
authorities over how she amassed assets in foreign lands as the net closes in
on individuals and corporates who stashed their wealth in foreign lands.
On Tuesday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa gave a three-month
deadline to individuals and corporates that externalised foreign currency to
return the loot or face arrest.
In a statement, Mnangagwa said it had been brought to his
attention that huge sums of money and other assets were externalised, thus
prejudicing the hard currency-starved economy of the much-needed liquidity.
Highly-placed sources told the Daily News yesterday that
the net will spare no one — big and small, as the new government puts its foot
down to restore financial discipline that had become an anathema under former
president Robert Mugabe’s spendthrift administration.
It is being alleged that the powers-that-be already have
the list of people involved in the externalisation of foreign currency and want
to give them the leeway to return the loot in the spirit of letting bygones be
bygones before the law takes its course.
Without suggesting any wrongdoing on her part, they said it
would be interesting for the authorities to see if the former first lady could
account for some of the assets acquired by the first family in foreign lands.
Grace projects herself as a shrewd businesswoman whose
interests span across farming, education, property and dairy production.
Notwithstanding the economic meltdown that has led to local
businesses haemorrhaging to the point of closure and massive, Grace is said to
have made considerable acquisitions beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.
What is not clear is whether she had the requisite
approvals for the foreign purchases and if there was no undue influence on the
part of the bureaucrats that presided over the approvals.
The then powerful Grace recently spent a cool R45 million
rand on a 9 249 square metre property in Sandhurst — a leafy suburb where the
affluent in South Africa live large.
She also reportedly brought a Rolls Royce Ghost model worth
half a million dollars around the same time in September, again in South
Africa.
Known for wearing diamond studded spectacles, gold crusted
watches and a ring that was bought for over a million dollars, Grace is also
said to own properties in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
While details about the Mugabes’ wealth are sketchy, Grace
has led a life of opulence, and shopping, an ingrained habit that earned the
former first lady the moniker “Gucci Grace”.
Mugabe’s sons have openly paraded their wealth through
purchases of Rolls Royce vehicles, expensive watches and choice champagnes.
Some estimates put the Mugabes’ net worth at $1 billion
dollars and according to WikiLeaks, the former president’s assets “include
everything from secret accounts in Switzerland, the Channel Islands and the
Bahamas to castles in Scotland”.
A snapshot of the Mugabes’ wealth came to the fore in 2015
over an ownership dispute of a $7,6 million Hong Kong home with an Asian
tycoon.
Legal experts said with Mnangagwa having thrown the
gauntlet by giving citizens who externalised foreign currency and brought
assets in foreign land three months to return the loot, the deal that Mugabe
signed with the generals granting him immunity may not insulate him or his
families from accounting for their wealth outside the country’s borders.
Constitutional law expert and one of the authors of the
current Constitution Alex Magaisa said as things stand, the Mugabes are exposed
to legal action.
“It is presumably on this basis that the exit deal includes
provision for immunity from lawsuits. The question is whether the exit deal
takes precedence over the Constitution. It is axiomatic that the Constitution
is the supreme law of the country. Section 2(1) of the Constitution states
that: ‘This Constitution is the supreme law of Zimbabwe and any law, practice,
custom or conduct inconsistent with it is invalid to the extent of the
inconsistency,’” he said.
“This means if, as it appears, the deal is inconsistent
with the Constitution, it is invalid. If sued, the courts should give
precedence to the Constitution and he would have to prove that his acts were
done in good faith. As for members of his family, the immunity would not hold.
They never had immunity during his presidency and they cannot claim immunity
now,” added Magaisa.
Roman Catholic cleric — Father Fidelis Mukonori — who
played a key role in persuading 93-year-old Mugabe to step down after pressure
from the military and the populace, told the Daily News that “Grace’s immunity”
was not part of the deal.
“We did not discuss her immunity with the generals,” said
Father Mukonori.
Former Finance minister Tendai Biti, who clashed several
times with Zanu PF officials during the inclusive government era, told the
Daily News that over $3 billion left the country between 2009 and 2013 when he
was still in charge.
“There are people who took out money; there are lot of
things that happened. At least $3 billion left this country when I was the
minister of Finance between 2009 and 2011 due to illicit financial inflows,”
said Biti, without mentioning individuals or companies involved.
The MDC this week said the net should not just target small
fish.
Obert Gutu, the MDC’s spokesperson and a former deputy Justice
minister, claimed this week that it was a public secret that top politicians
and other well-connected individuals illegally externalised huge amounts of
money over the years.
“Some of these criminals have actually gone ahead to buy
and/or construct expensive mansions in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Dubai
and Hong Kong, using the proceeds from these externalised funds,” said Gutu.
“Billions of United States dollars, particularly arising
from the illicit sale of diamonds from the Marange and Chiadzwa diamond fields,
were illegally externalised by these criminals. All this money should be
brought back to Zimbabwe sooner rather than later,” said. Daily News
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