ZIMBABWE’S DYING HOSPITALS TURN INTO A BILLION-DOLLAR GOLDMINE FOR MNANGAGWA’S FRIENDS

Something very strange is happening in Zimbabwe. Our hospitals are collapsing. People are dying from simple diseases. There are no medicines. Doctors and nurses are struggling. The whole health system is broken. But instead of fixing it for the people, Emmerson Mnangagwa and his friends are using it to make money. Big money. Almost US$1 billion is now at stake in health tenders. And all the big contracts are going to people close to him.

It all started with a Facebook post. Youth Minister Tinoda Machakaire posted that he visited a hospital and was very sad about what he saw. He said the situation was very bad. He even asked the President to visit the hospitals and see the suffering of the people. Many people praised him. They thought he was being honest. But some of us knew better. That message was just a setup.

Soon after that, Mnangagwa started visiting hospitals. He toured Parirenyatwa, Sally Mugabe Hospital and NatPharm. People thought he wanted to help. But behind the scenes, deals were already being made. Big deals. It turns out, Mnangagwa and his team were already planning billion-dollar contracts. These were not for the benefit of the people. They were for his friends and business partners.

One of them is Wicknell Chivayo. He got a massive US$437 million deal to supply cancer equipment. His company, TTM Global, is only a few months old. It was registered in South Africa and is linked to Chivayo’s luxury penthouse in Sandton, Johannesburg. The deal was not advertised. No one else got a chance to bid. That’s not fair. It’s corruption.

Another deal came from Belarus. Mnangagwa met with President Lukashenko and agreed on a US$300 million health project. This deal includes medicines, equipment, and modernising hospitals. But again, those close to Mnangagwa, like businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, are heavily involved. Tagwirei didn’t even go to Belarus, but he is said to be the President’s adviser on the project. Just days after Machakaire’s Facebook post, a meeting was held in Harare with Mnangagwa’s inner circle to discuss how to raise money for these deals.

It doesn’t stop there. Another friend of Mnangagwa, Tempter Tungwarara, was given a contract to fix hospitals without any tender process. His company, Prevail International, has done no real work outside of government projects. He lives a fancy life and has been accused of fraud, unpaid loans, and fake property deals. Still, Mnangagwa gave him a diplomatic passport and full government support. His company is also behind many projects like boreholes, housing for war vets, and the new State House wall that cost US$15 million. All without tender.

These men are not fixing the health system for the people. They are making millions while patients die in dirty wards with no medicine. Mnangagwa is using the suffering of ordinary Zimbabweans to enrich his friends. Hospitals are now a goldmine for those close to power. Tenders are given without fairness. Prices are inflated. And all this is happening while the poor can’t even afford painkillers.

The sad truth is our health system has been turned into a business. A very corrupt one. Instead of helping people, Mnangagwa’s government is helping itself. The deals are being hidden. There is no transparency. No accountability. And no shame.

What we are seeing is not leadership. It is theft. The people are suffering. But the ruling elite is smiling, signing deals and flying abroad. This is why we must keep exposing them. Zimbabwe’s health sector should serve the people, not line the pockets of the powerful. If we remain silent, this will continue. Let us speak up. Let us fight back. The hospitals are ours. Not theirs.