Willowgate: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|1988–89 Zimbabwean political scandal}} |
{{Short description|1988–89 Zimbabwean political scandal}} |
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'''Willowgate''' was a 1988–89 |
'''Willowgate''' was a 1988–89 [[political scandal]] in [[Zimbabwe]] in which ''[[The Chronicle (Zimbabwe)|The Bulawayo Chronicle]]'' revealed illegal resale of automobile purchases by various government officials. The ensuing investigation resulted in the resignations of five members of President [[Robert Mugabe]]'s cabinet. One of the five, [[Maurice Nyagumbo]], later committed suicide after being charged with perjury. The reporters who had broken the story, [[Geoffrey Nyarota]] and [[Davison Maruziva]], were subsequently removed from their posts. |
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== Discovery == |
== Discovery == |
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In October 1988, |
In October 1988, member of parliament [[Obert Mpofu]] accidentally received a cheque from a car company in [[Willowvale, Harare|Willowvale]], an industrial area of [[Harare]]; the cheque had actually been intended for Alford Mpofu, a friend of Industry Minister [[Callistus Ndlovu]]. Obert Mpofu took the cheque to Lancyott Mpofu and Prince Sunduzani, editors of the state-owned ''[[The Chronicle (Zimbabwe)|Bulawayo Chronicle]]''. The paper had already built a reputation for aggressive investigations into corruption at all levels of government, and began to investigate.<ref name=NYT /> |
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In the weeks following their discovery of the cheque, Nyarota and deputy editor [[Davison Maruziva]] learned that ministers and officials from the government of President [[Robert Mugabe]] had been given early access to buy foreign cars at the Willowvale assembly plant.<ref name=NYT /> In some cases, the cars were bought wholesale and resold at a 200% profit.<ref name=WP>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1185472.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202003056/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1185472.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 February 2016 |title=3 Cabinet Ministers Quit in Zimbabwe as Corruption Report Is Published |author=Karl Maier |date=15 April 1989 |work=The Washington Post |publisher= {{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}|accessdate=12 September 2012}}</ref> Implicated ministers included Ndlovu, Political Affairs Minister [[Maurice Nyagumbo]], Defense Minister [[Enos Nkala]] and Minister of State for Political Affairs, [[Frederick Shava]], who was later elected as President of the UN Economic and Social Affairs Council in 2016. The newspaper published documents from the plant to prove its case, including identification numbers from the vehicles.<ref name=NYT>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/20/world/zimbabwe-reads-of-officials-secrets.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title=Zimbabwe Reads of Officials' Secrets |author=Jane Perlez |date=20 January 1989 |work=The New York Times |archivedate=2 February 2016|url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202003055/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/20/world/zimbabwe-reads-of-officials-secrets.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |accessdate=12 September 2012}}</ref> |
In the weeks following their discovery of the cheque, Nyarota and deputy editor [[Davison Maruziva]] learned that ministers and officials from the government of President [[Robert Mugabe]] had been given early access to buy foreign cars at the Willowvale assembly plant.<ref name=NYT /> In some cases, the cars were bought wholesale and resold at a 200% profit.<ref name=WP>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1185472.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202003056/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1185472.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 February 2016 |title=3 Cabinet Ministers Quit in Zimbabwe as Corruption Report Is Published |author=Karl Maier |date=15 April 1989 |work=The Washington Post |publisher= {{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}|accessdate=12 September 2012}}</ref> Implicated ministers included Ndlovu, Political Affairs Minister [[Maurice Nyagumbo]], Defense Minister [[Enos Nkala]] and Minister of State for Political Affairs, [[Frederick Shava]], who was later elected as President of the UN Economic and Social Affairs Council in 2016. The newspaper published documents from the plant to prove its case, including identification numbers from the vehicles.<ref name=NYT>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/20/world/zimbabwe-reads-of-officials-secrets.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title=Zimbabwe Reads of Officials' Secrets |author=Jane Perlez |date=20 January 1989 |work=The New York Times |archivedate=2 February 2016|url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202003055/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/20/world/zimbabwe-reads-of-officials-secrets.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |accessdate=12 September 2012}}</ref> |
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Other officials who resigned after being implicated in the scandal included Higher Education Minister [[Dzingai Mutumbuka]], [[Matabeleland North Province|Matabeleland North]] Governor [[Jacob Mudenda]], and Deputy Minister of Sport and Culture [[Charles Ndlovu]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shaw |first=Angus |date=1989-04-14 |title=Four More Top Politicians Quit in Corruption Scandal |url=https://apnews.com/article/780f958f729e8792db0ac3851639d817 |access-date=2022-12-27 |website=AP |language=en}}</ref> |
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== Consequences == |
== Consequences == |
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However, Nyarota and Maruziva were both forced out of their jobs with the state-owned paper and into newly created public relations positions in Harare.<ref name=I>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5075005.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121208175916/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5075005.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 December 2012 |title=Zimbabwe Crisis: Foreign journalist held over newspaper bomb |date=28 April 2000 |work=The Independent |publisher= {{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}|accessdate=12 September 2012}}</ref> Though the men were given pay raises, Mugabe also stated that the move was a result of their "overzealousness", leading to public belief that they had been removed for their reporting. ZANU parliamentarians also criticized Nyarota and Maruziva, with the Minister of State for National Security [[Emmerson Mnangagwa]] stating that criticism was welcome, but "to the extent that the press now deliberately target Government as their enemy, then we part ways."<ref name=SD>{{cite book |title=Shattered Dreams |last=P. P. Jackson |year=2010 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781452043944 |pages=52–3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xn2ibDi8EUMC&q=nyarota&pg=PA52 |accessdate=12 September 2012}}</ref> |
However, Nyarota and Maruziva were both forced out of their jobs with the state-owned paper and into newly created public relations positions in Harare.<ref name=I>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5075005.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121208175916/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5075005.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 December 2012 |title=Zimbabwe Crisis: Foreign journalist held over newspaper bomb |date=28 April 2000 |work=The Independent |publisher= {{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}|accessdate=12 September 2012}}</ref> Though the men were given pay raises, Mugabe also stated that the move was a result of their "overzealousness", leading to public belief that they had been removed for their reporting. ZANU parliamentarians also criticized Nyarota and Maruziva, with the Minister of State for National Security [[Emmerson Mnangagwa]] stating that criticism was welcome, but "to the extent that the press now deliberately target Government as their enemy, then we part ways."<ref name=SD>{{cite book |title=Shattered Dreams |last=P. P. Jackson |year=2010 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781452043944 |pages=52–3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xn2ibDi8EUMC&q=nyarota&pg=PA52 |accessdate=12 September 2012}}</ref> |
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== In |
== In popular culture == |
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The scandal featured prominently in the lyrics of [[Solomon Skuza]]'s album ''Love and Scandals''. In one song, he asks, "how can someone buy a car and sell it again?"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/mobile/zimbabwe/11798-mugabe-meets-enos-nkala.html |title=Mugabe meets Enos Nkala |work=The Zimbabwe Mail |accessdate=16 September 2012}}</ref> In another, he sings of his love leaving him for "a guy who owns a Cressida", referring to the [[Toyota Cressida]]s assembled at Willowvale.<ref>{{cite book |title=Urban Grooves: The Performance of Politics in Zimbabwe's Hip Hop Music |author=Wonderful G. Bere |year=2007 |page=65 |isbn=9780549745075 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ft6rlEM2GM4C&q=%22Solomon+Skuza%22+Willowgate&pg=PA65 |accessdate=16 September 2012}}</ref> |
The scandal featured prominently in the lyrics of [[Solomon Skuza]]'s album ''Love and Scandals''. In one song, he asks, "how can someone buy a car and sell it again?"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/mobile/zimbabwe/11798-mugabe-meets-enos-nkala.html |title=Mugabe meets Enos Nkala |work=The Zimbabwe Mail |accessdate=16 September 2012}}</ref> In another, he sings of his love leaving him for "a guy who owns a Cressida", referring to the [[Toyota Cressida]]s assembled at Willowvale.<ref>{{cite book |title=Urban Grooves: The Performance of Politics in Zimbabwe's Hip Hop Music |author=Wonderful G. Bere |year=2007 |page=65 |isbn=9780549745075 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ft6rlEM2GM4C&q=%22Solomon+Skuza%22+Willowgate&pg=PA65 |accessdate=16 September 2012}}</ref> |
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== In novels == |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 15:03, 27 December 2022
Willowgate was a 1988–89 political scandal in Zimbabwe in which The Bulawayo Chronicle revealed illegal resale of automobile purchases by various government officials. The ensuing investigation resulted in the resignations of five members of President Robert Mugabe's cabinet. One of the five, Maurice Nyagumbo, later committed suicide after being charged with perjury. The reporters who had broken the story, Geoffrey Nyarota and Davison Maruziva, were subsequently removed from their posts.
Discovery
In October 1988, member of parliament Obert Mpofu accidentally received a cheque from a car company in Willowvale, an industrial area of Harare; the cheque had actually been intended for Alford Mpofu, a friend of Industry Minister Callistus Ndlovu. Obert Mpofu took the cheque to Lancyott Mpofu and Prince Sunduzani, editors of the state-owned Bulawayo Chronicle. The paper had already built a reputation for aggressive investigations into corruption at all levels of government, and began to investigate.[1]
In the weeks following their discovery of the cheque, Nyarota and deputy editor Davison Maruziva learned that ministers and officials from the government of President Robert Mugabe had been given early access to buy foreign cars at the Willowvale assembly plant.[1] In some cases, the cars were bought wholesale and resold at a 200% profit.[2] Implicated ministers included Ndlovu, Political Affairs Minister Maurice Nyagumbo, Defense Minister Enos Nkala and Minister of State for Political Affairs, Frederick Shava, who was later elected as President of the UN Economic and Social Affairs Council in 2016. The newspaper published documents from the plant to prove its case, including identification numbers from the vehicles.[1]
Other officials who resigned after being implicated in the scandal included Higher Education Minister Dzingai Mutumbuka, Matabeleland North Governor Jacob Mudenda, and Deputy Minister of Sport and Culture Charles Ndlovu.[3]
Consequences
In December 1988, Mugabe appointed a three-person panel, the Sandura Commission, to investigate the allegations.[4] The Washington Post reported that the commission's hearings "struck a deep chord" in Zimbabwe, where citizens had grown to resent the perceived growing corruption of government. A provincial governor and five of Mugabe's cabinet ministers eventually resigned due to implication in the scandal, including Shava, Nkala and Nyagumbo, who at the time was the third highest-ranking official in Mugabe's party, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU).[2][4] Nyagumbo committed suicide by drinking pesticide.[4]
However, Nyarota and Maruziva were both forced out of their jobs with the state-owned paper and into newly created public relations positions in Harare.[5] Though the men were given pay raises, Mugabe also stated that the move was a result of their "overzealousness", leading to public belief that they had been removed for their reporting. ZANU parliamentarians also criticized Nyarota and Maruziva, with the Minister of State for National Security Emmerson Mnangagwa stating that criticism was welcome, but "to the extent that the press now deliberately target Government as their enemy, then we part ways."[4]
In popular culture
The scandal featured prominently in the lyrics of Solomon Skuza's album Love and Scandals. In one song, he asks, "how can someone buy a car and sell it again?"[6] In another, he sings of his love leaving him for "a guy who owns a Cressida", referring to the Toyota Cressidas assembled at Willowvale.[7]
The scandal was fictionalized in George Mujajati's novel The Sun Will Rise Again as the "Sisida Scandal".
References
- ^ a b c Jane Perlez (20 January 1989). "Zimbabwe Reads of Officials' Secrets". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ a b Karl Maier (15 April 1989). "3 Cabinet Ministers Quit in Zimbabwe as Corruption Report Is Published". The Washington Post. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ Shaw, Angus (1989-04-14). "Four More Top Politicians Quit in Corruption Scandal". AP. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- ^ a b c d P. P. Jackson (2010). Shattered Dreams. AuthorHouse. pp. 52–3. ISBN 9781452043944. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ "Zimbabwe Crisis: Foreign journalist held over newspaper bomb". The Independent. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . 28 April 2000. Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ "Mugabe meets Enos Nkala". The Zimbabwe Mail. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ^ Wonderful G. Bere (2007). Urban Grooves: The Performance of Politics in Zimbabwe's Hip Hop Music. p. 65. ISBN 9780549745075. Retrieved 16 September 2012.