General Chiwenga & top brass in sugar looting scam

By Tererai Karimakwenda
22 May, 2008

At a time when the country is faced with serious shortages of sugar, it has been reported that senior army officials, including the commander of the defence forces, have been looting tonnes of sugar for personal gain. According to the Zimbabwe Times website it all started when junior soldiers at King George VI Barracks in Harare routinely checked a heavily loaded rural truck leaving their premises. What they found led directly to army commander General Constantine Chiwenga and four other senior officials. The truck contained three tonnes of sugar and the general phoned the soldiers and ordered them to let it pass.

Chiredzi farmer Gerry Whitehead told us top government officials have been taking sugar from the mills directly to the border for years now. He has seen a vast network of roads develop near the border with Mozambique and Botswana. When he recently tried ordering sugar to sell to supermarkets in Masvingo that had none, Whitehead was told it had all been ordered.

What seems quite clear is that top officials are benefiting from the ongoing lawlessness and have no desire to resolve the political and economic crisis. According to The Zimbabwe Times Chiwenga and his partners ordered the sugar under the pretence that it was for use on military barracks around the country. But it’s then diverted and resold at very large profits locally and on international markets. The driver of the truck in Harare said he been instructed to contact Major General Engelbert Rugeje with any queries. It is believed Rugeje then contacted the army commander.

Scams like this one create a shortage for ordinary Zimbabweans and push up the price beyond affordability. Similar scams have caused shortages of maize meal, cooking oil, soap and other basic commodities.
Whitehead said the few remaining white farmers in the lowveld all have been given deadlines by which they are to vacate their properties. He added: “I don’t think there will be any white farmers left down here next year.”