HARARE – Tasara Hungwe, the Zanu PF MP for Mberengwa East, is under investigation for allegedly diverting over ZiG1.3 million from a parliamentary Constituency Development Fund (CDF), ZimLive can reveal.
Parliament disbursed the funds in August last year, and Hungwe is accused of quickly initiating a series of transfers that ultimately saw the money land in the account of a microfinance company, which allegedly paid him out in United States dollars.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) was reportedly poised to arrest Hungwe last week, but sources claim a senior Zanu PF official intervened to stop the move.
ZACC declined to respond to questions, while Hungwe denies any wrongdoing.
Sources say the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Financial Intelligence Unit is assisting in the investigation.
Hungwe, a first-term MP elected in 2023, is a director of two companies – Tatiude (Pvt) Ltd and Matquick Hardware (Pvt) Ltd.
Mberengwa East received ZiG1,341,500 (about US$53,000) under the CDF, paid out on August 14, 2025, according to documents seen by ZimLive.
Soon after, Hungwe transferred ZiG799,641.32 to Tatiude and ZiG440,171.37 to Matquick Hardware, both linked to him.
The companies then moved the funds to Simbaramabwe Construction and Hardware (Pvt) Ltd – ZiG760,000 from Tatiude and ZiG361,000 from Matquick.
Simbaramabwe subsequently channelled the money to Success Microfinance, where the trail goes cold. Investigators believe the firm then paid Hungwe in US dollars.
A source familiar with the probe said there were “strong suspicions of misuse, possible diversion of public funds from their intended purpose, and an obvious conflict of interest potentially amounting to money laundering.”
CDF allocations are meant for constituency projects pre-approved by Parliament and managed by a local committee comprising the area senator, proportional representation MP, selected councillors and traditional leaders. Signatories are drawn from this committee and operate a designated account.
ZACC had not responded to detailed questions at the time of publication, despite earlier indications it would do so. We had specifically asked the anti-graft body to respond to allegations of political interference in its investigations.
Hungwe insisted he could account for the funds but declined to answer questions about the companies involved, identify members of his CDF committee, or specify which projects had been funded.
“Diverting CDF money, me? That is not a true story,” he said in response to written questions which he did not address.
Hungwe is the second Zanu PF MP to be investigated over alleged CDF abuse this year.
In January, Chiredzi West MP Darlington Chiwa was arrested by ZACC for allegedly diverting over ZiG990,000 (about US$50,000 at the April 2025 exchange rate) from the constituency account into his personal accounts.
He is accused of using the funds for personal expenses, including beer, shoes, groceries and building materials, with only a small portion going towards constituency projects.
The case is pending.