A high-ranking official at the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) is facing allegations of abuse of office and governance violations, according to internal sources.
Wilfred Tanyanyiwa, who serves as the acting general manager the MIF its subsidiary Defold Mine, is accused of ethical breaches including nepotism, procurement irregularities, and financial mismanagement.
Defold Mine operates as a mining subsidiary wholly owned by the MIF.
Tanyanyiwa is accused of systematically bypassing established recruitment protocols to favour personally connected individuals.
Insiders cited the alleged disregard for the outcome of a recruitment agent's selection process for a legal officer position, where he reportedly overrode the recommended candidate.
Defold mine human resources manager, Munyaradzi Mashiche, could not deny or confirm the allegations directing this reporter to his boss, Tanyanyiwa.
“I am not allowed to talk to outsiders. All correspondence has to be through Mr Tanyanyiwa,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from Tanyanyiwa were fruitless as his mobile phone went unanswered.
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According to sources, Tanyanyiwa is facing a number of charges in the manner he runs the entity allegedly in violation of good corporate governance practice.
“He is overriding recruitment processes through nepotism, a case in point is ignoring the outcome of a recruitment agent's (name supplied) selection for a legal officer position,” a source said.
Another source added: "There are also procurement irregularities…a long-standing office rental dispute was resolved by hiring a new accountant, who facilitated payments without proper documentation, benefiting a property owner who is said to be a close friend.
“These allegations suggest potential conflicts of interest, favouritism, and irregularities in company processes.”
The MIF represents Zimbabwe's sovereign wealth fund, originally established in 2014 under the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe Act with the stated purpose of driving strategic investments for national growth and economic prosperity.
In September 2023, it was renamed the MIF through Statutory Instrument 156 of 2023, granting it sweeping exemptions from standard public procurement rules and parliamentary oversight.
The fund now controls several state-owned enterprises across mining, energy, transportation, and agricultural sectors.
