There are moments in the life of a nation when a single utterance slices through the thin veneer of political pretense, exposing the raw, ugly truth beneath. Such a moment arrived this week in Bulawayo, courtesy of Kudakwashe Tagwirei. With astonishing audacity, the man widely known as the grand looting architect of our modern era stood before the National University of Science and Technology and, in a breathtaking display of contempt, declared that Zimbabweans who have not secured government tenders are “foolish”.
Let that sink in. In a country where poverty gnaws at the soul of millions, where formal jobs are a distant dream for the vast majority, and where economic survival is a daily miracle, a man whose colossal wealth is steeped in the murky waters of state capture dares to mock those who strive without the privileged access he commands. This is not just a gaffe; it is a profound insult, spat directly at the faces of 99% of our population, whose resilience in the face of systemic plunder is a testament to their spirit, not their lack of wisdom.
Tagwirei, the founder of Sakunda Holdings, attempted to reframe the damning term “tenderpreneur”—a moniker earned through years of alleged inflated pricing and substandard work on public contracts—as a mere misnomer, even claiming it was “coined by white people to discourage blacks from gaining access to business from government”. Such a desperate deflection is laughable, were its implications not so tragic. The problem, Mr. Tagwirei, is not access to tenders. The problem is grand corruption; it is the opaque, often un-tendered, multibillion-dollar deals that have become your personal financial playground, while the national purse bleeds dry.
Consider the infamous US$3 billion paid to Sakunda Holdings for the Command Agriculture scheme. This was no ordinary business transaction; it was, as economist Tinashe Murapata rightly points out, a scheme that never went to tender. It was funded by pension funds and depositors’ money, savings from the very people you now casually label “foolish”—savings that were subsequently wiped out by the hyperinflation directly caused by such reckless government-sanctioned financial engineering. The United States Treasury Department’s sanctions against you are not born of “jealousy” but are rooted in documented findings: you have “utilised your relationships with high level Zimbabwean officials to gain state contracts and receive favoured access to hard currency, including U.S. dollars”. This isn’t entrepreneurship; this is the textbook definition of state capture and grand looting.
Your wealth, Mr. Tagwirei, is not a product of competitive enterprise but a direct extraction from the national arteries. From murky fuel deals to hijacked banks, from GMB grain schemes to ZUPCO bus fraud, from road scams to fake vaccine tenders—your hand is in everything, turning public resources into private fortunes. This systematic plunder has left hospitals without paracetamol, children dying without cancer machines, and pensioners living on prayers, while you parade your ill-gotten gains and now, with astonishing hubris, posture for the presidency.
Kuda Musasiwa articulates the sentiment of many: “Tenders are not the problem. An equitable system that allows all business to access tenders would be the answer to this. Currently tenders go to shelved companies with hotel rooms as addresses”. Indeed. The issue is not the pursuit of government business, but the wholesale subversion of fair play and accountability in favor of a select, politically connected few.
Your recent appointment to the ZANU-PF central committee and alleged presidential ambitions add a chilling dimension to your comments. How can a man who openly scorns the legitimate struggles of the overwhelming majority of his countrymen, whose wealth is the very embodiment of their collective impoverishment, ever aspire to lead them? Leadership demands empathy, integrity, and a commitment to the common good, not a predatory philosophy that equates national service with personal tenderpreneurship.
Zimbabwe deserves more than the architects of its economic pain seeking to become its political saviors. The “foolish” are not those who lack government contracts, but those who believe a nation can thrive when its resources are systematically diverted into the pockets of a few through grand corruption and blatant state capture. The time for silent suffering is long past. The time for demanding accountability, justice, and a leadership truly committed to the nation’s welfare is now. We are watching, and history, unlike fleeting political favors, records everything.
