Zimbabwe ministers, top officials loot broke parastatals

Senior government officials, including cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries, and directors, are siphoning millions of dollars from state-owned enterprises to finance extravagant lifestyles, in a growing corruption scandal that is draining public resources and undermining service delivery. The revelations, based on official documents obtained by the Zimbabwe Independent, have triggered alarm within the highest offices of government and prompted an urgent directive from the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC).

The explosive dossier reveals how state enterprises are being coerced into bankrolling high-end vehicles, overseas travel, DSTV subscriptions, gym memberships, hotel stays, and other luxuries for top government officials — all outside their budgeted responsibilities. This abuse is unfolding at a time when most parastatals are running at a loss and ordinary Zimbabweans face economic hardship, increased taxes, and meagre public services.

In a circular issued on June 17, 2025, the OPC's Corporate Governance Unit (CGU) described the practice as "widespread and systemic," warning that some ministries have effectively turned their affiliated parastatals into personal slush funds. The CGU said the requests for financial and material support from line ministries have become increasingly frequent and burdensome, often taking the form of forced donations or payments for items completely unrelated to the parastatal's core mandate.

Examples cited in the document include demands for the purchase of luxury vehicles, underwriting of expensive foreign trips, payments for hotel accommodation, fuel, air tickets, out-of-pocket travel allowances, DSTV and gym subscriptions, and even office stationery and computer hardware. In some instances, officials compelled parastatals to fund social responsibility programmes that were neither budgeted nor relevant to their work, under the pretext of inter-ministerial collaboration.

The CGU reminded all public entities that Section 23 of the Public Entities Corporate Governance (General) Regulations, Statutory Instrument 168 of 2018, expressly prohibits the misuse of public resources. It warned that executives, board chairpersons, and senior managers who comply with such unlawful demands could be held personally liable for the expenditures. The directive also instructs entities to report these cases directly to the CGU rather than allowing the practices to continue unchecked.

This latest crackdown marks a significant policy shift as the government signals renewed intent to restore fiscal discipline and strengthen accountability within the sprawling network of public entities. While a similar warning was issued in 2019, the OPC now appears increasingly frustrated with the intensification of the abuse and is moving to assert stronger oversight.

Despite the formal funding of ministries through the national budget approved by Parliament, the OPC says these illegal and unsanctioned financial demands continue unabated. Analysts say this points to a deeper governance crisis, where public entities have become convenient tools for corruption, political patronage, and personal enrichment.

A governance expert interviewed said the revelations underscore the urgent need for structural reform in how state enterprises are managed and protected from political interference. With many of these institutions already crippled by inefficiency and corruption, the siphoning of funds by top officials adds yet another layer of financial and moral decay to the system.

Unless concrete steps are taken to enforce the directive and bring offending officials to account, observers warn that the cycle of abuse will persist, further compromising the ability of state institutions to deliver on their public service mandates. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens continue to shoulder the consequences of a system where wealth and privilege for a few are prioritised over national development.