ZIMBABWE’S SICK HOSPITALS NOW A BILLION-DOLLAR CASH MACHINE FOR MNANGAGWA’S FRIENDS
The health crisis in Zimbabwe is no longer just about broken hospitals and suffering patients. It is now a money-making opportunity for people close to President Emmerson Mnangagwa. More than US$1 billion is at stake. And guess what? Most of it is going to his friends.
It started with a tweet from Youth Minister Tinoda Machakaire on 5 May. He said he visited a hospital and was shocked by what he saw. He told the President to go and see for himself. He said it with respect, but the message looked bold. Many people praised him for being brave and caring.
But now it’s clear that the tweet was just the beginning of something bigger — and more suspicious.
Soon after, Mnangagwa started visiting hospitals and talking about fixing them. People thought he was finally doing something. But behind the scenes, secret deals were already happening. Big tenders and contracts worth hundreds of millions were being handed out without any open process.
One of the big winners is Wicknell Chivayo. His company, TTM Global Medical Exports, signed a contract to supply cancer treatment machines. The deal is worth over US$437 million. The contract was signed in March 2025, but the company was only registered in South Africa in November 2024. That means it is less than a year old. It also uses Chivayo’s luxury hotel suite in Johannesburg as an address.
Chivayo’s company is supposed to deliver 178 pieces of equipment over four years. He already received US$52.5 million just two weeks after the deal was signed. Every month, he is supposed to get another US$9 million. All this happened quietly, without public knowledge or tender.
At the same time, Zimbabwe signed another deal with Belarus. This one is worth US$300 million. It is supposed to help modernise hospitals and start producing medicine locally. It sounds good, but again, the deal was led by Mnangagwa’s close friends, including Kudakwashe Tagwirei and Belarus businessman Alexander Zingman. These men are known for winning government contracts.
Another shady deal went to a Dubai-based company called Prevail International. It is owned by Tempter Paul Tungwarara, who is Mnangagwa’s adviser. His company got a big hospital contract too, again without tender. It also got contracts to build boreholes, housing for war veterans, solar projects, and even the wall around State House — for US$15 million.
Prevail International is a new company too. It was registered in Britain in January 2025, using an ordinary house in Kent as its address. Its offices in Zimbabwe are listed as a house in Chisipite. In Dubai, it operates from a block of flats.
Tungwarara has a long list of accusations, from property scams to unpaid debts. In 2019, he reportedly borrowed US$350,000 and paid back only a small amount. In 2023, he was accused of selling land he didn’t own. When things went wrong, he brought armed men to force out the buyer.
Now, this same man is in charge of fixing hospitals?
Machakaire’s tweet was not about real concern. It was a setup to make people believe the government cared. In truth, it was just the opening act before big contracts were handed out to friends of the President.
What’s worse is that all this is happening while ordinary Zimbabweans suffer in hospitals with no medicine, no equipment, and no hope.
The health sector is now a cash cow. It’s been turned into a money machine. Mnangagwa’s allies are the only ones winning. The people? They are still waiting to be healed. But the only thing growing fast in Zimbabwe’s hospitals today is corruption.
