CENTRAL Intelligence Organisation (CIO) deputy director-general Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi and close family members established the Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ) trust to help the ruling Zanu PF party win the 2023 harmonised elections, shelling out US$23 million during the campaign, a new report has shown.
According to an explosive report released by The Sentry, an investigative and policy organisation that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression and kleptocracy, FAZ’s official deeds reveal that its trustees and founders include Tapfumaneyi’s family and associates, including Tangisai Tapera, his key ally and business partner in a past oil deal with Iran.
However, according to the exposé, both Tapfumaneyi and FAZ deny that the CIO controls the trust.
“In addition, the main phone number for FAZ was used in the past by a CIO officer, according to a review of several phone apps that reveal the names under which a telephone number has been saved by its contacts in users’ address books, suggesting the involvement of the agency.
“FAZ also spent at least US$4 million — a large sum of money in Zimbabwean politics — importing 160 or more Toyota Hilux pick-up trucks for Zanu PF candidates.
“FAZ declined to comment when asked whether their activities intimidated voters or whether their spending tipped the electoral scales towards Zanu PF,” the report said.
It further indicated that the US$4 million used on the vehicles since October 2022 was eight times more than the US$500 000 public party funding received by the opposition parties in Zimbabwe.
In denying the allegations, FAZ described The Sentry’s statement as “attempts to caricature the organisation”.
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“The CIO also ramped up expenditure before the elections, spending US$23 million on 780 vehicles since January 2022, almost as much as the US$25 million spent from 2016 to 2021.
“In the past, the CIO has allegedly used similar vehicles in the beating and intimidation of opposition supporters,” the report said.
It also quotes FAZ chairperson Kudakwashe Munsaka saying the entity was the revival of a trust first established by students in 2010 with the support of the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs.
The ministry was established during the government of national unity in 2009 by then Zanu PF leader, former President Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai (both late).
“FAZ was established as a youth empowerment project to access business opportunities. Munsaka said that when the MSPA [Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs] was disbanded in 2014, the relationship ended and the trustees abandoned the project — only to revive the entity in 2022,” it said.
The Sentry further argued that while the allegation was denied by all concerned, a trail of breadcrumbs leads to the CIO’s door.
“The trust deeds for FAZ, meanwhile, point towards links with one of the spy agency’s current bosses. Tapfumaneyi’s earlier role at the MSPA, which had helped to establish FAZ in 2010, and his long-standing relationship with one of its trustees, Tapera, are central to understanding the connection.
“During the government of national unity, established after the violence of the 2008 election, the opposition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), controlled the Finance ministry.
“To get around their rival’s control of revenue and expenditure, both the military and the CIO set up a variety of joint ventures to raise off-budget finances.”
The report also indicated that Mugabe established the ministry, with Tapfumaneyi as principal director, as a way of circumventing MDC influence over the civil service.
“The MSPA was designed to carry out various deals away from prying eyes, according to someone in the security sector at the time.”
Tapera reportedly refused to discuss the issues, according to The Sentry.
The report said official records for FAZ revealed that Tapfumaneyi is linked to several of the entity’s trustees and founders.
“Tapera, Tapfumaneyi’s ally, is a trustee of FAZ. Another trustee is a family friend who shared an address with a member of Tapfumaneyi’s immediate family.
“A third trustee is someone who has the same uncommon name as an official aide to one of the two deputy directors-general of the CIO — the position held by Tapfumaneyi — raising the question as to whether they are the same person.
“Tapfumaneyi’s son is named as a FAZ founder on its website, while Tafumaneyi’s wife also reportedly headed a local FAZ branch.
“The presence of several of Tapfumaneyi’s contacts as trustees or founders is indicative of a link, if not between the CIO and FAZ, then at least between Tapfumaneyi and FAZ.”
Tapfumaneyi said: “I have nothing to do with Forever Associates Zimbabwe, either personally or officially.”
When contacted by The Sentry, Tapfumaneyi denied any wrongdoing “relating to Zanu PF nor Forever Associates Zimbabwe and what you allege to be its links to me, which links have absolutely no foundation in law.”
FAZ, according to The Sentry, declined to identify its funders, claiming that it is financed by “well-wishers who prefer not to be named.”
In its recommendations, The Sentry said the government should cease using state resources to favour Zanu PF, calling for the country’s electoral laws to be updated to introduce campaign expenditure limits.
The report said banks and firms doing business with the FAZ trust and company should conduct enhanced due diligence consistent with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
