Ministries defy Mnangagwa office's ban on looting

Senior government officials, including cabinet ministers and permanent secretaries, have continued extracting millions from state-owned enterprises (SOEs), ignoring repeated directives to halt the practice, prompting renewed intervention from the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC).

In a hard-hitting circular reissued on October 13, the OPC barred ministries from demanding financial or material support from parastatals, describing the trend as a "culture of entitlement and institutionalised looting." The directive, attached to a letter from Corporate Governance Unit head Allen Choruma and issued by Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Martin Rushwaya, expressed alarm over increasing requests for money and resources by line ministries, despite budget allocations already approved by Parliament and assented to by the President.

"This is the fourth such directive since 2019," the memo notes, highlighting a deep-seated governance problem and blatant disregard for previous instructions from the highest office in the land. According to the circular, ministries continue to demand funding from parastatals for official functions, donations, air tickets, allowances, club subscriptions, stationery, computer hardware, vehicle hire, and other personal and institutional expenses.

A review of the paper trail reveals a persistent pattern of defiance. Initial warnings were issued in October 2019 under Circular REF: SEP/24/12, followed by another in May 2025 (Circular 23/2025). Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube had also raised concerns in his 2020 National Budget Statement, warning that "unjustified requests" from ministries were undermining the financial stability of public enterprises. Despite these interventions, the practice continues.

Analysts say the unchecked demands effectively create a shadow funding system outside parliamentary oversight, where ministries pressure SOEs to bankroll their operations. The OPC circular also reveals that such transactions are often hidden from financial statements, preventing an accurate assessment of the fiscal health of state firms and creating opportunities for large-scale corruption. "Of further concern is that in many instances such requests from line ministries are not transparently and fully disclosed in entities' financial statements and reporting mechanisms," the memo states.

To restore control, the OPC has introduced a centralised waiver system. Under the new framework, ministries must seek funding for oversight duties from the Treasury and may only receive financial or material assistance from a parastatal with written approval from the Chief Secretary's office. "All public entities are directed not to offer any financial or material assistance to a line ministry without the above procedure being followed and a waiver issued," the circular stipulates.

Rushwaya emphasised that the measures aim to "enhance accountability, transparency and full disclosure on use of public resources and thus enhance good corporate governance across all public entities," signalling a determined push to curb the long-standing misuse of state assets.