Staff ReporterNelson Chamisa, the leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has spoken out against Zimbabwe’s current leadership, describing it as corrupt and rotten to the core. His comments come after Al Jazeera’s latest investigation, “Gold Mafia,” uncovered criminal activities worth billions of dollars in the gold smuggling and money laundering industry in Southern Africa.
In a tweet, Chamisa stated that the corruption at the top is just the tip of the iceberg and that the leadership has destroyed a once-great country. He further commented that Zimbabwe is not poor but poorly governed, with social services collapsing and millions being looted while the elites connected to government officials are making at least US$80 million every month through gold smuggling.
The CCC has also condemned the corruption, highlighting the dire state of Zimbabwe’s health, education, and infrastructure systems. According to the opposition party, while these systems are on their deathbed, a few elites connected to government officials are enriching themselves at the expense of the country’s resources.
Al Jazeera’s investigation named Uebert Angel, Rikki Doolan, and Henrietta Rushwaya as part of the gold smuggling mafia. In the first episode of the four-part series, “The Laundry Service,” a former accountant of Kamlesh Pattni, a gold smuggler implicated in a scandal that robbed Kenya of 10% of its GDP in the 1990s, stated that Pattni is duping Zimbabwean government officials. Pattni allegedly exports jewelry and gold bars to Dubai and the rest of the world, declaring only a fraction of the value of Zimbabwean gold sold abroad and keeping the rest of the proceeds out of the country.
Zimbabwe, a country with vast natural resources, has been struggling with a declining economy and political instability for many years. The current allegations of corruption and looting by government officials are further eroding the country’s already fragile economy and threatening its social fabric.
The CCC and Chamisa’s comments reflect the growing discontent among Zimbabweans, who are calling for more accountability, transparency, and good governance. The country’s leadership must take urgent steps to address the corruption and mismanagement that have plagued the country for far too long, or risk losing the trust and support of its people.