By Victor Fanuel
HARARE — The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has arrested Orequest (Pvt) Ltd finance director MinMin Song over the alleged smuggling of more than 720 tonnes of unbeneficiated lithium ore out of Zimbabwe through Forbes Border Post.
“Song joins co-accused Shuvai Muza and Charlene Chivandire, who were arrested on 27 August 2026 and are already on remand,” ZACC said in a statement.
Song is accused of working with Ning Yaokun, who is still at large, and a Chinese national identified only as Andy to fraudulently export lithium ore.
“The syndicate allegedly established a fully equipped illegal mineral processing and dispatch warehouse in 2025 at a plot in Ruwa,” ZACC said.
According to the anti-graft body, the syndicate began stockpiling lithium ore at the Ruwa property before becoming fully operational in May 2026.
Chivandire and another suspect identified only as Malvern, who is also still at large, allegedly handled ground operations, processed fraudulent paperwork and arranged haulage links with local transport brokers.
In July, the syndicate allegedly made an initial freight booking with Maersk Harare for 40 shipping containers, while Song engaged All Way Global (Pvt) Ltd to source heavy-haulage trucks.
Chivandire and Malvern allegedly contracted Mutare-based clearing agent Brian Sakarombe to handle customs exit formalities.
Malvern allegedly supplied Sakarombe with fraudulent export documents purporting to have been issued by Bikita Minerals, allowing 23 trucks carrying 30-tonne containers of lithium ore to pass through Forbes Border Post.
The shipment amounted to 690 tonnes of lithium ore, ZACC said.
Yaokun later allegedly booked six more haulage trucks to collect cargo containers and load lithium ore at the Ruwa site.
Two of those trucks exited through Forbes Border Post on July 19 and arrived at the Port of Beira in Mozambique on July 22, where they offloaded the cargo.
Investigators later found that three more trucks had loaded lithium ore at the Ruwa site on July 18 and 21 before proceeding to Mutare, where they were intercepted after presenting fraudulent Bikita Minerals export documents.
Those trucks were carrying 60 tonnes of lithium ore.
Further investigations uncovered another 300 tonnes at the Ruwa property and 60 tonnes in containers abandoned at Lochinvar in Harare, bringing the recovered ore to 420 tonnes.
ZACC said the value of both the smuggled and recovered lithium had not yet been established by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
Song is expected to appear at the Harare Magistrates Court for initial remand on Saturday, September 5, 2026.
Zimbabwe banned the export of raw minerals and lithium concentrates earlier this year as part of government efforts to promote local value addition and beneficiation.
