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NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Zinara boss caught in Air Zimbabwe insurance saga

News
THE Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development was at the core of the rot at Air Zimbabwe as it emerges that Frank Chitukutuku,

THE Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development was at the core of the rot at Air Zimbabwe as it emerges that Frank Chitukutuku, the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) chief executive, is among the owners of the airline’s insurance brokers, Champions Insurance.

By Paidamoyo Muzulu Senior Reporter

Champions Insurance took over the lucrative and controversial Air Zimbabwe insurance portfolio without going to tender last year. The change of insurance brokers at the airline took place soon after former minister Nicholas Goche had appointed the Ozias Bvute-led board which was unceremoniously dismissed last week.

Investigations by NewsDay have revealed that Champions Insurance is owned by three shelf companies: Drycode Enterprises (20%), Hotspike Investments (40%), and Fremus Business Consultancy (40%).

Chitukutuku and his wife Nyasha are the directors of Hotspike. Its business address is Chitutukutu’s Plot No 82 Belmont Farm, Goromonzi.

According to records at the Companies Registry, Hotspike (7044/2000) was initially registered in 2000 with Collate Chitsiga and Kennedy Chitsiga as the founding directors.

Chitukutuku and his wife took over the company in 2011 when all the other directors resigned. The other directors who resigned in 2011 include Sebastian Chitukutuku, Tendai Hukuimwe, Fungai Hukuimwe and Nyasha Masungo.

Fremus Business Consultants (7192/2005) is owned by Freddy and Musline Chimbari, who are business associates to the Goches. They also own Fremus Executor Services which offers secretarial services to both Hotspike and Drycode Enterprises.

Drycode Investments (8543/2007) is owned by Inos and Cynthia Magumi of 152A Rhodesville Road, Greendale.

NewsDay further established that Goche’s children are senior executives at Champions Insurance whose managing director Nathan Chikono was until last week chairman of the AirZim board finance committee.

Nicholas Goche Jnr, a former fund manager at First Mutual Life, now works at Champions Insurance. It could not be ascertained what role he plays and he is not publicly listed among the executives at Champions Insurance.

Champions Insurance established a countrywide presence and it is found at most ZimPost Office halls across the country. ZimPost was under the Ministry of Transport headed by Goche when the deal was brokered.

NewDay further discovered that Champions Insurance had intimate business links with MetBank, Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) and EasyGo (Pvt) Ltd owned by the Central Equipment Mechanical Department (CMED), a department in the Ministry of Transport.

EasyGo is a care hire business operated by CMED.

MetBank Group chief executive Bvute chaired the AirZim board on which Chikono was a member. Metbank offered Champions Insurance services in its banking halls. The insurance company had a contract to insure all EasyGo cars.

It also offered travel insurance to PSMAS which is currently embroiled in its own boardroom sagas and scandalous payment of outrageous salaries to its executives.

The network of companies and personalities in these unravelling issues show the intertwining of government and business by senior politicians and civil servants.