Mnangagwa Fired Top Bureaucrat George Guvamatanga, Then Changed His Mind | Report
President Emmerson Mnangagwa fired Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion permanent secretary George Guvamatanga last week but then changed his mind, reported ZimLive.
Mnangagwa reportedly reversed Guvamatanga’s sacking after the top bureaucrat apologised and entreaties by the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Martin Rushwaya.
Guvatamanga (53), in the job since 2018, was informed on June 21 that Mnangagwa had terminated his services.
He was accused of undermining the country’s new currency, ZiG, as well as complaints that he was only releasing funds to ministries headed by his friends.
Mnangagwa was reportedly angered by the Treasury’s failure to publish statutory instruments that would put into effect declarations by the new Reserve Bank governor John Mushayavanhu that companies would be mandated, from this month, to pay 50 per cent of their quarterly taxes in Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) and the other half in foreign currency. ZimLive was told:
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What compounded matters is that Mushayavanhu and Guvamatanga don’t like each other too much, and the governor felt he was being undermined.
Mnangagwa decided Guvamatanga had to go and Rushwaya had been instructed to make the announcement.
Guvamatanga reportedly asked for an audience with the president where “he went on his knees”. Said the source:
He went on his knees, literally. The chief secretary also pleaded with the president to reverse his decision, saying that Guvamatanga was a young man and he would learn from the incident.
Rushwaya also told Mnangagwa that there had been other changes at the environment ministry and the Public Service Commission, and firing Guvamatanga would destabilise the government.
Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, George Charamba denied Mnangagwa had fired Guvamatanga. Said Charamba:
False, very false! Secretary Guvamatanga remains ensconced in his appointment until the appointing authority decides otherwise.
To my mind, the appointing authority has not and, anyway, is unlikely to at such a critical time when we are about to host SADC, are in the middle of an El-induced drought from which we must recover, have just launched a new currency requiring fiscal support, and have made overtures to old and new blocs internationally. Highly unlikely, in my view.
Guvamatanga is accused of accepting bribes from Wicknell Chivayo to authorize payments exceeding US$100 million to Ren-Form CC, a South African company that supplied election materials to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) at inflated prices.
Chivayo has denied making the payments after distancing himself from WhatsApp messages sent to former business partners Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu.
In the messages, Chivayo appeared to implicate several government officials—including Rushwaya, Guvamatanga, Central Intelligence Organisation boss Isaac Moyo, and ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba—in corrupt activities related to the payments.
Meanwhile, Rosemary Tsitsi Choruma was removed as Public Service Commission secretary, allegedly for “disrespect” after she referred to Mnangagwa as “Mr President” instead of “Your Excellency”.
Choruma was appointed as a commissioner in the Zimbabwe Land Commission and was replaced by Sibusisiwe Nyoni-Zembe.
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