Lastly, when the Panama papers leaked, it was deemed a major scandal and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists had a large group of reporters digging through the material. I think I saw only one Zimbabwean journalist, Ray Choto, who was involved.
Interestingly, when Mnangagwa’s list was released, the local media in general simply dismissed it as an exporter’s list. There was no further exploration of the list – checking who owns what company and so forth. This was weird because that list shows almost a billion dollars of Zimbabwean value kept offshore. Some even demanded that the list must have contained the names of individuals behind those companies. But most people who cheat, or move value across borders, don’t usually do it using their personal banks accounts. They use front companies to do so. To find out who actually moved the value, you have to lift the corporate veil.
Most people also do not know that if a deposit of above $50,000 is made into a personal bank account in Zimbabwe, that transaction is flagged and often reported to the central bank under anti-money laundering rules. People who want to move large sums of money know this and won’t use their personal bank accounts.
Mnangagwa’s name and shame list was derided and applauded in equal measure. This is a symptom of the deep-seated polarisation in Zimbabwe, as well as lack of trust between the government and citizens. But the bottom-line is Zimbabwe has lots of value stuck offshore inaccessible to citizens, and the nation needs this value back.
By Matt Matigari for The Source.
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