He bought the company from the state-run Industrial
Development Corporation but workers have dismissed as cheap propaganda claims
that he paid US$22m.
Zimglass, Zimbabwe’s sole producer of glass used to export
to Malawi and Zambia, churning out 120 tonnes per week and employing 500
workers. It was one of the biggest companies in Gweru run by the state-owned
IDC.
The Mirror visited the company and established that the
sprawling 10-hectare premises located along Bristol Road in Gweru are now used
as grazing and a cattle pen for Kwande’s 100 herds of cattle.
Patrick Chirombo a former HR Officer at Zimglass said it was
painful to see the giant company sinking further into abyss. He attacked
Government for giving the company to someone who has no capacity.
Gweru Mayor Josiah Makombe lamented the deal between IDC
and Kwande as an economic disaster for Gweru. Zimglass closed shop in 2010.
The arrangement is a violation of the City’s by-laws which
bans the keeping of cattle in the city.
The Mirror established that Kwande has also set up grinding
mills at Zimglass where he is processing Premier maize meal that is sold in his
…………supermarkets.
Kwande acquired the company through his Brainman
Investments at a time when the new dispensation under President Mnangagwa
promised a quick fix of defunct companies including CSC, Shabani Mashaba Mines
and Zisco.
Kwande requested a face-to-face interview with The Mirror
but failed to show up on numerous occasions.
Makombe said that it is illegal for Kwande to keep cattle
in the city and a team of council workers would be dispatched to investigate.
He said the grinding mills must be properly licensed for them to operate.
The glass produced by Zimglass was mainly sold to Delta
Beverages, African Distillers, Mutare Bottling Company, Straitia Investments,
Olivine Industries, Datlabs and E. Snell and Company.
“It is sad for the city and the country that the firm was
bought by someone who cannot revive it. Obviously we needed an investor who
comes to create jobs and wealth,” said Makombe.
Residents who spoke to The Mirror said Government assets in
Gweru have become fruits for easy picking by those connected to Zanu PF
leadership.
Moses Chikwadzi, a former secretary for the workers’
committee said Zimglass remains a strategic company to the country and called
for an immediate intervention.
He said that hundreds of workers including some who worked for
the company for 30 years walked out of the company empty handed. The
understanding was that the workers were going to be paid their benefits from
the proceeds of the sale of the company.
“It’s painful and l feel like crying. All workers walked
out with nothing. We must be paid our benefits from the US$22m that IDC
received from Kwande,” said Chikwadzi.
Chirombo dismissed the US$22m tag on the company and said
there is evidence from lawyers that the company was sold for a song. He said it
went for RTGS$22m
He described the price as peanuts considering that the
company has machinery worth millions of dollars.
The Mirror understands that Kwande also got the industrial
sand claim some 10km outside Gweru. This is where sand used for making glass is
obtained but instead of keeping the sand for glass making, this is now being
sold to those building houses and moulding bricks. Masvingo Mirror
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