Tagwirei plashes $1.8 million on Mnangagwa's old car

Harare witnessed an extraordinary display of wealth on Thursday as sanctioned businessman and presidential hopeful Kudakwashe Tagwirei paid a staggering $1.8 million for President Emmerson Mnangagwa's first car — an Aston Martin 1300 the leader drove as a law student at the University of Zambia.

Tagwirei immediately returned the vehicle to the ED-University of Zambia Scholarship Trust, which supports Zimbabwean students studying at the institution. The charity auction, featuring Mnangagwa memorabilia, raised over $2.5 million in total.

Tagwirei, who faces sanctions from the United States and United Kingdom, has built a multibillion-dollar business empire largely through state contracts awarded without competitive tender. He previously held a fuel-sector partnership with Singapore's Trafigura until sanctions ended the arrangement.

Washington has accused him and other elites of undermining economic development by leveraging political connections to secure state contracts and preferential access to hard currency, while supplying officials with luxury goods, including high-end vehicles.

Recently elevated to Zanu-PF's central committee, Tagwirei is widely seen as harbouring presidential ambitions. Observers note that planned constitutional amendments — including replacing direct presidential elections with an electoral college vote and altering vice-presidential succession rules — could potentially position him as a beneficiary of a restructured political system.

In recent years, Tagwirei has spent millions providing vehicles to Zanu-PF central committee members, politburo members, and MPs, a strategy legal analysts suggest may be designed to consolidate influence and present him as a natural successor should Mnangagwa exit the presidency.