HE chickens have finally come home to roost for Henrietta Rushwaya, or so it seems, following numerous close shaves with the law.
When she was arrested at Robert Mugabe International Airport in October 2020 while trying to smuggle 6 kilogrammes of gold to Dubai, many Zimbabweans believed she would escape with just a slap on the wrist — like she had done several times before. The gold was worth US$333 042, 28.But early this week, Rushwaya, who is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s niece, a close relative of chief secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet Martin Rushwaya, the president of the Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation was found guilty of the offence.
She was of course denying the smuggling charges, claiming she picked the wrong handbag as she went to the airport. High Court judge Justice Pisirayi Kwenda convicted Rushwaya (56) and remanded her in custody to 10 November 2023 for sentencing.
Rushwaya was indicted to the High Court for trial early this year. The conviction came as a surprise to many people, given the perception that she has over the years enjoyed protection because of her relations with Mnangagwa and other senior Zanu PF officials.
Besides Mnangagwa, Rushwaya was also close to former vice-president Joseph Msika. At one time she served as director of sport in his office.
Rushwaya’s catalogue of close shaves The controversial former Zimbabwe Football Association chief executive, whose tenure was marred by allegations of match fixing in which she played a central role, complicated her situation when she nailed herself as a dirty player in the gold sector, who has facilitated the looting of gold through private jets and helped in money laundering schemes, after being recorded by an Al Jazeera undercover investigative team and broadcast early this year.
This was before her gold smuggling case had been finalised. Henrietta, who has a string of past scandals dating back to 2007, was among those exposed by undercover reporters who, posing as gangsters with up to US$1 billion in dirty money, approached President Mnangagwa’s Ambassador-at-Large, Eubert Angel, and critical players in Zimbabwe’s gold sector seeking to launder cash, with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Fidelity Printers and Refiners acting as a laundromat. Angel is recorded phoning Henrietta, who reveals they use private jets to pick up gold as part of their smuggling and laundering activities.
“You want gold, we can make the call and it’s done with the president of the miners’ association, right this minute. Let me just call Rushwaya,” says Angel to undercover reporters, while calling.
Angel then tells Rushwaya he has people who want to get gold “like the other deals that we normally do with these people, like the one we did in Dubai. He tells the ZMF boss that the investors are prepared to send a private jet that picks up gold every week.
“Oh perfect. Now that’s okay. It’s doable. What quantity do they do?” asks Rushwaya. Angel tells Rushwaya the dealers want 100kgs of gold every week. She immediately offers them a 4% discount on world prices, before detailing how she can assist them to clean their money.
“They bring in US$10 million, for instance. Five million will be put into Fidelity for the du[1]ration of their relationship. They get gold worth US$5 million every week, they take it out, bring another US$5 million,” she says.
Rushwaya also offers to clean an addition[1]al US$5 million through one of her producers, whom she says can add onto the parcel that is taken out, bring the total to US$10 million a week. “You can easily open an account for them under one of your many companies. We are the only sector in the country that is paying in foreign currency cash basis,” she says.
Rushwaya’s close dance with the law can be traced back to 2007, after her appointment ZIFA chief executive.
She was accused of stealing Zifa funds between 2007 and 2008, but was eventually found not guilty after her trial in 2008.Rushwaya was also arrested while on bail in the matter on attempting to defeat the course of justice charges.
In 2012 she was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Commission on allegations of bribery and match-fixing linked to the Asiagate match-fixing scandal.She appeared in court facing 11 counts of concealing transactions from a principal, two counts of fraud, and 15 others of bribery involving US$1 million.Chitungwiza regional magistrate Estere Chivasa however found her not guilty of the charges in 2013. Rushwaya was arrested again in 2014 on charges of extorting Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader Walter Magaya.
She was arrested again in 2016 over match fix[1]ing allegations involving the senior national team, players, referees, coaches and betting syndicates following a trio to Malysia as well as her involvement in what is known as the Limpopogate scandal, where she allegedly fixed an African cup of Nations qualifier against Swaziland.
The case died down without a conviction, just like her other cases. Rushwaya was fired from Zifa on 26 October 2016 after a disciplinary tribunal ruled she had been responsible for mismanagement and insubordination.
She was then surprisingly elected president of the Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation in 2018, giving her a platform to engage in dirty gold deals, which have resulted in her being locked up. The NewsHawks
“At ZimRights, we have great confidence in the power of communities to lead in creating and sustaining a culture of human rights,” the organisation said in a statement on Sunday.
“Our 2022 State of Peace Report has unpacked the multiple layers of vulnerabilities for the people of Zimbabwe, with many citizens living in a state of perpetual insecurity.”
ZimRights said the insecurity shaped their approach and attitude to participation in social, economic and political life.
“We live in a country where the State has collapsed and, in its place, the party rules through fear and intimidation. Social protection systems have disappeared, and the social service delivery mechanisms have failed,” the rights organisation said.
The latest figures by the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index revealed that Zimbabwe was slowly sliding into a failed State ranking low in the absence of anti-corruption activities, fundamental rights, civil justice and criminal justice factors.
“The recent electoral heist has shown us the determination of politicians to destroy the country for political gain while the election industry, which profits from this perennial meaningless ritual, is equally determined to tick the boxes and look the other side. The people suffer the greatest loss as the bickering continues,” ZimRights said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared winner of the largely controversial August 23 and 24 polls, which were followed by retributive violence against opposition supporters.
The opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has revealed that at least 1 500 of its supporters have abandoned their homes and are living in safe houses following post-election violence.Several election observers including the Sadc election observer mission flagged the polls as not credible and failing to meet local, regional and international guidelines on holding free, fair and credible elections.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyers in Zimbabwe have flagged the continued use of the criminal justice system to clamp down on dissent through denial of bail to perceived political opponents.
The lawyers said there was an upsurge in cases of arrests, repeated denial of bail to human rights defenders and prolonged pre-trial incarceration.
In a report released last Friday by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum titled Trial by Pretrial Incarceration: Detention without Trial and Delayed Trials in Zimbabwe, the lawyers said failure to issue bail in deserving cases and commence timeous trial proceedings, in several high-profile political cases was a cause for concern.
The lawyers said the justice system was being used as a tool to directly intimidate and close off the constitutionally guaranteed rights of arrested and detained persons.
“The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) has identified a disturbing pattern of manipulation of the criminal justice system by State personnel to intimidate and punish perceived voices of dissent,” the report said.
“This is achieved through denial of bail in deserving political cases or prolonged pre-trial incarceration.”
The rights defenders accused the State of abusing the procedures of detention of accused persons before trial.
“This method involves repeatedly denying the arrested person bail and stalling the process of commencing a trial. As a result, the arrested person stays in detention for a prolonged period, which itself gives the semblance of them already serving time in detention.”
Several opposition figures who include Fadzayi Mahere, Godfrey Sithole, Johanna Mamombe, Netsai Marova, Cecilia Chimbiri, Job Sikhala and Jacob Ngarivhume, among others, have endured lengthy incarcerations after having been denied bail at the courts.
“There was also observation of the trend spilling over to affect not only opposition political actors and activists, but this method of denial of bail and prolonged pre-trial detention was used to punish perceived sympathisers of the opposition political party,” the rights defenders
