Categories: Stories

ZANU-PF mole sold Mugabe out in 2008

A Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front mole told United States ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee that Mugabe knew he was going to lose the March 2008 elections, five days before the poll, according to a report in BusinessWeek which raises, once again, the issue that a United States hedge fund bankrolled Mugabe’s violent campaign in the presidential elections run-off.

The report said the mole told McGee two weeks after the first round loss that Mugabe was preparing for war and had launched an intimidation campaign of torture and killing in areas that had voted for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

McGee said in one of his cables to Washington released by Wikileaks that he was informed that Mugabe was prepared to concede defeat two days after the 29 March elections but later changed his mind.

Despite having moles including in the military McGee, did not know about the US$100 million windfall until four years later though the amount according to BusinessWeek  was more than all the money the country had at the time.

When told that Zimbabwe was given the cash only nine days after Mugabe lost, McGee said:  “That’s how all the good work we do, or try to do, gets blown away in nine days.”

(76 VIEWS)

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Zimbabwe third among the least free countries in SADC

Zimbabwe has been ranked third among the least free countries in Southern Africa but it…

May 24, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death- Take 1

I had always considered it a curse for a wife to die before her husband.…

May 18, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death

This is a true story about the challenges and loneliness I faced when my wife…

May 17, 2026

Coming soon

My first long-form article in booklet form: Why I had a girlfriend two months after…

May 16, 2026

Insider Publisher starts whatsapp channel

The editor and publisher of The Insider, Charles Rukuni, has started a whatsapp channel through…

May 15, 2026

Who propped whom: Masiyiwa vs Nyambirai?

A friend who knows about my legal battle with Zimbabwe’s richest man, Strive Masiyiwa, way…

May 1, 2026