The construction of a multi-million dollar mansion on in Harare’s affluent Borrowdale suburb by a senior executive of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation is said to have drawn attention and triggered investigations that led this week to his suspension and that of four other top ZMDC managers, says a leading Zimbabwean journalist.
Investigative journalist Dumisani Muleya, who is also deputy editor of the Zimbabwe Independent weekly newspaper, said the mansion under construction by ZMDC Chief Executive Dominic Mubayiwa triggered investigations into the operations of the ZMDC where some US$40 million in gold and diamond proceeds cannot be accounted for.
Muleya said the three-story mansion has become a center of attraction in the city where most people are struggling to make ends meet as slow growth and tight financial liquidity haunt the semi-comatose economy.
Efforts to contact Mubayiwa were not successful as he was said to be out of the city.
Mubayiwa was suspended together with ZMDC Finance Director Robert Karemba, Group Technical Services Manager Albert Chitambo and Corporate Secretary Tichaona Muhonde, government sources said.
Muleya told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that under the current economic situation, very few Zimbabweans can build a dwelling to match the grandeur of Mubayiwa’s Borrowdale estate.
