Another Mugabe Lackey Exposed For Sabotaging Zimbabwe Economy

Themba Mliswa (above), a staunch ZANU PF supporter and former sports agent in the UK, now lives on a farm in Karoi in Zimbabwe. The farm was invaded and taken from a white owner during Mugabe's land redistribution exercise. Now it emerges that a tobacco he owns has been fingered by the police for smuggling tobacco worth US$2 million. The company blames an unnamed manager, whom they say they have fired. He has not been named nor arrested for such a huge crime that sabotages efforts to put the country back on the right track economically

Harare, Zimbabwe, 06 December 2009

While screaming and shouting about "genuine empowerment" as well as accusing the MDC-T especially, of sabotaging the recovery of Zimbabwe's economy, it now emerges that a company owned by a staunch Mugabe lackey and avid farm invader, Themba Mliswa, has been caught smuggling tobacco to Zambia, prejudicing Zimbabwe of foreign currency.

Saltlakes, a company owned by Mliswa, who operates out of Mugabe's home province and has been fingered as one of the culprits behind the continued farm invasions, was discovered by the police to have smuggled tobacco worth US$2 million to a Zambian company called Tombwe tobacco.

Nigel Murambiwa, a loss control manager at Mliswa's company. blamed a manager at Saltlakes, whom he said the company had fired for "conniving with some people in Zambia" to smuggle the report.

The fired manager is not named and the story about his firing is most probably hogwash.

What is interesting is that a company that is owned by an avid Mugabe supporter should be doing this instead of working hard to support the Zimbabwe dictator's Land Reform Programme.

Contrast this with the way things worked durng Ian Smith's Rhodesia. Sanctions busters (Smith was under proper United Nations sanctions, blocked from doing business for Rhodesia all over the world) worked with the government to circumvent sanctions and made sure that the money was brought in to the country through official channels and used for the benefit of the government and its people (even if those people were only white).

The current situation is one where greed reigns supreme. It is about the lining of personal pockets by Mugabe's lackey, thereby ensuring that the economy remains in the doldrums.

There is no reason, apart from things like these, why the people of Zimbabwe should still be struggling ten years after they allegedly "got their land back"!

Mliswa, a former sports agent in the United Kingdom before he was allegedly deported, has also been involved in a wrangle over a service Station in Karoi in Zimbabwe. Disturbances at his farm, where the fuel station is, has resulted in the death of one person. This was a result of ZANU PF infighting, with a deputy minister being dead set against Mliswa's presence on the property and backing the former owner of the service station, who is a black Zimbabwean.

This is not the first time that Zimbabwe has been prejudiced of foreign currency and food security. In the late 90s, a minister of Agriculture was implicated in selling huge amounts of maize to Zambia and, despite Mugabe trying to make a show of punishing him, he is back in the fold, with a high-ranking position in the party.

ZANU PF people now know that, no matter how badly they compromise and sabotage the country, they will always be guaranteed safety if they sing Mugabe's praises loud enough.