President Emmerson Mnangagwa approved a road project that cost much more than planned. The Mbudzi Interchange started at 42 million dollars for design and land payments. Officials doubled the price to 88 million dollars without clear reasons. They nicknamed the project Trabablas which means nonsense in Spanish. South African engineers created the original plans for the road junction.
Mnangagwa arranged funding through Kudakwashe Tagwirei's mining company called Fossil Mines. The loan uses an old interest rate system that stopped working in 2023. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube also took money from the International Monetary Fund for the same project. Zimbabwe received these special funds in 2021 for infrastructure improvements. Government workers cannot explain why they needed both funding sources.
Land prices were raised far above actual values during the project. Property worth 100,000 dollars was valued at 500,000 dollars for extra payments. Officials refused to answer questions about how much IMF money went to the interchange. One finance worker said powerful people use projects like this to benefit themselves. The double funding means taxpayers must repay loans when free money was already available.
Mnangagwa arranged funding through Kudakwashe Tagwirei's mining company called Fossil Mines. The loan uses an old interest rate system that stopped working in 2023. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube also took money from the International Monetary Fund for the same project. Zimbabwe received these special funds in 2021 for infrastructure improvements. Government workers cannot explain why they needed both funding sources.
Land prices were raised far above actual values during the project. Property worth 100,000 dollars was valued at 500,000 dollars for extra payments. Officials refused to answer questions about how much IMF money went to the interchange. One finance worker said powerful people use projects like this to benefit themselves. The double funding means taxpayers must repay loans when free money was already available.
