Business tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei
By Staff Reporter
Harare- President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s biographer and former opposition politician Eddie Cross has claimed that business mogul Kudakwashe Tagwirei was forcefully pushed out of the country’s fuel sector by the incumbent.
Tagwirei’s wealth was catapulted by investments into Zimbabwe’s fuel sector alongside various investments in mining.
His fuel company Sakunda Holdings was bought by global giants Trafigura in what was reported to be a multi-billion dollar mutual deal.
However, Cross contends that Mnangagwa was behind Tagwirei’s expulsion from the fuel industry.
Cross in an interview with local media stated that he had a long-standing disagreement with Tagwirei over a new Biera-Harare oil pipeline project, which Tagwirei’s company, Sakunda Holdings, opposed.
“The guys who then controlled the pipeline one of their directors was Kuda Tagwirei they recognised the new pipeline would be a threat to the old pipeline.
“Because our pipeline would be cheaper and they opposed it.
“For 10 years I fought Kuda (Tagwirei) and it wasn’t until Emmerson (Mnangagwa) became president in 2017, he called me in and he said I want to revive the second pipeline,” said Cross.
“He (Mnangagwa) appointed Daniel Mckenzie Ncube to take the pipeline back from Tagwirei, which he did.
“Tagwirei was then instructed, you get out of the fuel business, we don’t want you in there anymore,” added Cross.
Reports suggest that Tagwirei is divesting his holdings in several companies, with the government taking control of Kuvimba—a major player in platinum, lithium, and gold mining—which has been placed under the state’s Mutapa Investment Fund.
