Zimra Boasts Of Raiding Poor People’s Foods Instead Of Wicknell’s Smuggled Goods – Eduzim News

Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officials have been mercilessly raiding vendors on the streets of Zimbabwe, confiscating small goods such as fruits and sweets in the name of combating smuggling. Yet, glaring inconsistencies have emerged as the tax authority remains silent on billion-dollar scandals involving politically connected elites, including convicted money launderer Wicknell Chivayo and President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s business associate, Kamlesh Pattni. 

While ZIMRA boasts of warehouses overflowing with confiscated goods—ranging from alcohol and diapers to refrigerators and vehicles—it has failed to address nine years of luxury car imports by Chivayo, whose tax compliance remains a mystery. Chivayo, a convicted money launderer, has openly flaunted his wealth, pledging cars to political celebrities, yet ZIMRA has provided no explanation for why his lavish imports have escaped scrutiny or taxation.

The hypocrisy deepens as ZIMRA touts its anti-smuggling campaign as a “zero-tolerance” operation aimed at protecting Zimbabwe’s economy. Their brutal crackdown on small-scale traders contrasts sharply with their apparent reluctance to investigate Pattni’s gold smuggling empire, which has funneled billions out of Zimbabwe while undermining the nation’s economy. In December 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Pattni and his global network for corruption, exposing his role in laundering proceeds from Zimbabwe’s natural resources with the complicity of high-ranking officials.

Pattni, a long-time associate of Mnangagwa, is accused of operating an intricate network of bribery and fraud, siphoning off wealth from Zimbabwe’s gold exports and laundering the proceeds through international channels. Despite these revelations, ZIMRA has made no public effort to account for the smuggling of gold bricks used to fund election-related activities, further eroding its credibility. The U.S. sanctions highlighted how Pattni’s scheme has enriched Zimbabwe’s ruling elite while robbing citizens of infrastructure, education, and economic development.

Double Standards in Enforcement

ZIMRA’s visible enforcement efforts—such as impounding buses and raiding vendors selling small goods—appear to be targeting the powerless while protecting the powerful. Small-scale traders, already struggling to survive, bear the brunt of the campaign, while politically connected billionaires like Chivayo and Pattni escape unscathed. Chivayo’s fleet of luxury vehicles, imported without proper duty for nearly a decade, underscores ZIMRA’s failure to enforce the law impartially.

Despite its declarations of “zero tolerance,” ZIMRA has remained conspicuously silent about the billions lost through Pattni’s smuggling operations. Pattni’s network, which stretches across multiple countries, bribed officials to mask illicit activities and used front companies to hide its tracks. The gold smuggling empire, tied to election financing and corruption, represents one of the largest thefts of Zimbabwe’s natural resources in recent history.

Calls for Accountability

As the nation grapples with economic hardship, ZIMRA’s selective enforcement has sparked outrage. Citizens are questioning how an institution tasked with safeguarding Zimbabwe’s resources can allow such glaring lapses in oversight. Activists and watchdog groups are demanding transparency in the handling of both Chivayo’s car imports and Pattni’s gold smuggling, emphasizing that ZIMRA’s actions are undermining public trust.

“The fact that ZIMRA can boast about confiscating diapers and refrigerators from struggling Zimbabweans while saying nothing about billions in smuggled gold is outrageous,” said one economic analyst. “This isn’t law enforcement—it’s a mockery of justice.”

A Ticking Time Bomb

The silence surrounding Chivayo and Pattni is more than a failure of enforcement—it’s a reflection of systemic corruption that threatens the integrity of Zimbabwe’s institutions. Until ZIMRA takes action against the real perpetrators of economic sabotage, its anti-smuggling campaign will remain a smokescreen, concealing a culture of impunity that favors the elite at the expense of the nation’s most vulnerable.

As ZIMRA continues to crack down on petty traders, the question remains: How long can the government ignore its own complicity in the very crimes it claims to fight? The answers may lie not in the warehouses of confiscated goods, but in the billions of dollars lost to corruption, smuggling, and cronyism.

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