Akashinga, Zimbabwe’s once-mighty all-female wildlife conservation unit, is allegedly battling the effects of a bitter boardroom coup that drove out more than a dozen senior and middle managers.
The alleged “soft coup”, that started at the end of 2024 when an estranged former employee, Colin Cloete submitted a whistleblower statement regarding alleged violations at the outfit.
Sources who spoke to this publication claimed that the whistleblowing— involving the alleged misuse of thousands of dollars paid to a rival of the former Akashinga Zimbabwe board in a bid to win a factional fight—was masterminded by Melody Western, a former Akashinga USA executive director and now head of Embrace Global.
The payments, a human resources report compiled by Gareth Chagonda of Smart HR Solutions and dated May 23, 2025 reveals, were effected to purportedly cover an internal investigation.
In March 2025, Akashinga USA, under Western’s leadership, initiated investigations into alleged financial and human resources misconduct, it has emerged.
An empowerment initiative known as Leading Brave was allegedly used as a platform to obtain incriminating testimonies from several staff members, who were part of the fellowship that took them to various places like USA and UK where Western met up with some of them to obtain coached statements.
The Leading Brave Fellowship, initially led by Western’s associate, Carey Bohjanen, was reportedly awarded a contract worth close to US$130 000, which sources say was not fully disclosed to the board or subjected to procurement protocols.
Western did not respond to media questions sent to her. .
A May 22 internal memo to the Akashinga USA board co-signed by Ian Mackenzie-Ross, the board chair, Michelle Nevin (board secretary) and Elizabeth Atherton (board treasurer) revealed these details.
The same memo introduced Rudo Mugandani of Scanlen and Holderness as the Zimbabwe investigator while one CJ Pearl was introduced as the US investigator under Firewatch.
Mugandani was reached for a comment for her role in the “investigation” but refused to comment citing lawyer-client confidentiality.
“Akashinga is my client. As a journalist you are aware of lawyer-client confidentiality, so you can’t expect me to comment,” she said.
Akashinga was founded in 2017 as an all-female anti-poaching and wildlife protection unit operating primarily in Zimbabwe’s Lower Zambezi Valley and later expanding to other regions.
The model stood out in that it recruited and trained women—many from marginalised backgrounds, including survivors of domestic abuse and former subsistence poachers—as armed rangers, combining conservation with social rehabilitation and community development.
Akashinga gained international attention for its militarised conservation approach, emphasis on local empowerment, and claims of dramatically reducing poaching in its operational areas and attracted substantial international donor support.
Among those employed by the organisation was Tariro, daughter of Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has since left.
Reported internal fights within Akashinga are alleged to have led to the resignation of several top managers, among them founder and chief executive officer, Damien Mander, who left in September 2025 after having been placed on suspension in March of the same year.
Leaked documents show that Damien and another executive, Henry Macilwaine, received letters placing them on administrative leave on March 17, 2025.
Allegations against both Mander and MaCliwaine, it was established, were never formally presented in writing.
In one of the letters posted last week “written anonymously, not out of fear, but out of responsibility to the people who built this organisation with their labour, risk, and belief”, an insider alleged that the outfit was going through a serious crisis.
The post was made on Akashinga’s Exco platform, which can hide the identity of the writer.
“Akashinga has reached a critical point. Funding is collapsing. Operational capacity is shrinking. Key partners have stepped away. Staff numbers have reduced sharply. These are not rumours.
“They are realities felt through delayed payments, cancelled deployments, closed programmes, and growing uncertainty over whether the organisation can continue at all.
“This did not happen because the mission failed. It happened because governance failed,” notes the letter.
The letter further alleges that internal disputes were escalated improperly and handled without procedural fairness
“The records include a full whistleblowing docket, internal HR investigation reports, legal correspondence, governance bylaws, and an assessment produced by Zimbabwean state intelligence authorities (CIO).
“Taken together, these materials do not support the original allegations that were used to justify leadership suspension and structural takeover.
“Instead, they point to serious process failures, conflicts of interest, witness influence, selective use of evidence, and escalation without substantiated findings,” the letter alleges.
Akashinga has since appointed wildlife conservationist, Stacy Crevello, as its new chief executive officer, although morale is said to remain low amid ongoing reports of financial and operational strain.
Crevello declined to comment directly, but invited questions via Akashinga’s official email.
“Akashinga has communicated information related to leadership transition and organisational governance through official channels.
“Beyond what has been formally shared, we do not comment on internal personnel matters or speculation regarding investigations,” she said.
Subsequently, this publication received an emailed response with no specific author and merely attributed to “The AkashingaTeam”, in which the organisation dismissed reports of instability.
“Akashinga remains financially and operationally stable, and our conservation, community, and ranger programmes continue across our active landscapes in Zimbabwe and beyond,” read the statement.
“Our donors remain supportive, and our leadership team is focused on strengthening systems, safeguarding staff wellbeing, and ensuring long-term organisational resilience.
“Many international NGOs undergo governance and leadership transitions, and Akashinga has evolved to strengthen accountability and professionalism.
“Matters involving personnel, internal investigations, or confidential HR and legal processes are handled through formal frameworks, and we do not comment publicly on individual employment matters.”
The claim of a worsening financial crisis at Akashinga was also hinted by Agrippa Mapisaunga, chairman of Nyamakate Football Club, a Mashonaland West Division Two team partly sponsored by Akashinga as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.
Consenting to be named publicly, he said: “The team had been receiving significant support from Akashinga until last yea when we started to notice a decline.
“We received US$4 000 to cater for the entire league, yet in the previous season we required up to US$16 000.
“We struggled to cope and fulfil league obligations as Akashinga tightened its expenditure”.
“Unfortunately, some of the key people at Akashinga who appreciated this initiative were either dismissed or resigned, which affected us significantly.”
The Nyamakate ward councillor, Nomatter Mulisa, also expressed concern that several community projects previously supported by Akashinga had since stopped.
“Akashinga stopped maintaining our 35-kilometre road. In the past, they provided graders and up to 1 000 litres of fuel,” Mulisa said.
“Several other community projects have also stopped, though I will not mention them as discussions are ongoing.”
Workers at the Binga-based Songo Camp, which is run by Akashinga, also raised concerns about delayed food supplies, but preferred not to be named.
“We are only allowed vegan meals, and most food is transported by road or boat from Kariba,” one ranger said.
“Recently, some rations have been delayed or have not arrived at all.
“At times, we have had to bring food from home. This was not the case before.”
Reports seen by this publication indicate that estranged former employee, Cloete, was paid US$70 000 under unclear circumstances.
The payment was perceived by some employees as a reward for cooperating with the investigation process, while those who raised concerns were reportedly suspended and later dismissed.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Cloete proved fruitless as his mobile number was continuously unreachable.
The payment reportedly triggered an exodus of senior staff, among them the head of operations and law enforcement, Shadreck Midzi, and the country manager, Wayne Cumming.
Former board chair, Mackenzie, also reportedly resigned, citing what sources described as a toxic environment.
When contacted, Midzi refused to comment on the actual investigation but just how he resigned.
“It’s true I resigned from Akashinga but I can’t say much as I signed a non-disclosure (agreement),” Midzi said.
Cumming also refused to comment on the investigation, but confirmed his resignation.
Meanwhile, sources expressed concern that the investigations took too long, covering 10 weeks and creating uncertainty and mistrust within the organisation, with legal fees reportedly increasing organisational overheads from 9% to more than 40%.
The Smart HR Solutions report recommended that the investigation outcomes be disregarded, citing concerns over credibility and transparency due to alleged witness manipulation and coercion.
“Some employees indicated that they were aware of the external investigations before formal communication was issued and received guidance on how to respond,” the report stated.
“Others said they were informed in advance that senior personnel, including the CEO, would be suspended.”
A June 2025 post-investigation report attributed to the Chinhoyi branch of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) also noted alleged irregularities during the investigation.
It was not immediately clear why the CIO would be involved in the investigations, and efforts to contact the spy agency were fruitless.
“It would appear that Western harboured ambitions to usurp power from Mander by manipulating female rangers to implicate him during investigations.
“Employees interviewed expressed the need for Mander’s reinstatement, citing project delays following his removal,” the CIO report stated.
But a senior Akashinga official who also spoke on condition of anonymity insisted the organisation was still sound. “Although the situation appeared concerning six months ago, the organisation has since recovered,” the official said.
*This story is based on interviews with multiple current and former employees, community representatives, and individuals with direct knowledge of Akashinga’soperations and governance processes. Several sources requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issues raised and concerns about potential professional, and the ongoing nature of internal and external processes referenced in this report. Right of reply was given to all named individuals even though some did not respond to media queries.