Mnangagwa scheme hit by scandal

A dispute involving one of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's advisors has escalated to the High Court after a Harare resident discovered his residential stand had been turned into a site for a presidential borehole scheme without his permission.

Chenjerai Milton Musonza has sued the City of Harare and the director of housing and community services over the unlawful allocation of his stand, Rem 5807 Glenview, for a project run by Mnangagwa's special advisor Paul Tunguwarara.

Musonza said he was allocated the high-density residential stand in March 2020 and paid a total of $485,317.54 in local currency, including administration, provisional deposit, water, and sewer connection fees.

However, in 2023, Musonza found that his property had been taken over by unknown individuals and transformed into a presidential scheme featuring a community solar project and a drilled borehole - all without his knowledge or consent.

After raising the issue with the City of Harare, the municipality promised to reallocate him an alternative stand in 2024, but since then, the council has remained silent despite repeated requests from Musonza's legal team.

Left with no option, Musonza has approached the High Court demanding either an equivalent stand or a full refund of the money paid. He also seeks compensation of US$10,000 for damages resulting from the breach of contract.

Musonza explained that his plans to build his dream home have been severely disrupted and that he currently has to lodge elsewhere instead of living on his own property.

He has given the council an ultimatum to reallocate a stand within one month of the summons being served. The case is currently pending.

Observers say the lawsuit sheds light on the controversial operations of land barons in Harare - many of whom are linked to the ruling Zanu-PF party - and their encroachment into residential and wetland areas.

Several presidential projects overseen by Tunguwarara have been unveiled in recent months, including last week's launch of an empowerment scheme for the Children of Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association (COZLWVA), which received US$500,000 in seed capital to start entrepreneurial ventures.

Critics have suggested that these initiatives are part of a wider attempt to garner support for President Mnangagwa's controversial plan to extend his term of office from 2028 to 2030.

Confusion Over Carbon Credits Eligibility as Zimbabwe Registry Tags Credits for International Aviation Offset Scheme

In related economic developments, participants in Zimbabwe's carbon credit market have expressed uncertainty over the eligibility of certain credits under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) Phase 1.

A batch of 10,000 tCO2e vintage 2022 credits from the tasC Clean Cooking project, initially issued by the Gold Standard, was transferred to Zimbabwe's national registry on May 25, 2025 - marking the first transfer between a private voluntary carbon registry and a national registry.

Half of these credits were then tagged as "CORSIA eligible" by the Zimbabwe Carbon Markets Authority (ZiCMA). This would make them the second project recognized under Phase 1 of CORSIA after Guyana's ART TREES initiative.

However, concerns have been raised over the technical eligibility of these credits because Zimbabwe's registry is not yet approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the body administering CORSIA.

This contrasts with countries like Indonesia, which have signed mutual recognition agreements with Gold Standard, allowing their projects to be certified and recognized internationally. China's voluntary carbon market (CCER) and Thailand's TVER program have also received ICAO approval or conditional approval.

Market players warn that airlines might be reluctant to use credits with uncertain eligibility, especially as the Zimbabwe registry charges higher processing fees (about $6.40 per transaction) compared to a few cents on voluntary registries, potentially limiting demand.

Despite the confusion, because the credits have been authorized and correspondingly adjusted, they remain usable by other countries to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement's Article 6 framework.

Spot prices for CORSIA Phase 1 eligible emissions units held steady at $22.25 per tCO2e in the week to June 4, 2025.