By A Correspondent| Former opposition legislator and prominent economist, Eddie Cross, has disclosed that billionaire Kudakwashe Tagwirei is no longer affiliated with the Kuvimba Mining House.

This revelation came to light during an extensive interview with a private media outlet, where Cross shed light on Tagwirei’s investment journey, stating that Tagwirei utilized his earnings from Trafigura to venture into the mining giant.

“Kuda was kuvimba. He took all the money he got from the fuel business, disposing of the sales, putting the pipeline back to NOIC because he had 50 percent shares of the pipeline and NOIC bought him out. He did a lot of money and bought a lot of properties and put it into Kuvimba. Now Kuvimba has been taken over by the National Wealth Fund (Mutapa Fund),” Cross affirmed during the interview.

The Mutapa Investment Fund, which encompasses over twenty companies, has recently absorbed various enterprises, including Kuvimba Mining House, ZESA Holdings, HomeLink, Fidelity Gold Refinery, National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), and Air Zimbabwe.

Cross also elucidated on Tagwirei’s ascension to billionaire status, debunking the notion that his wealth stemmed solely from political connections, particularly the government’s command agriculture program.

“It wasn’t political connections that made him rich,” Cross emphasized. “He has become extremely rich and Kuda is extremely bright. He owned a fuel company, one of the bigger ones, and the Trafigura guys bought him out and made him a director and trebled the size of the business as they (Trafigura) are the third largest trading company in the world. So it was under Trafigura that he made very substantial money, and he is still a wealthy man.”

Furthermore, Cross, a former member of the late Morgan Tsvangirai-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), highlighted Tagwirei’s departure from the fuel industry to pursue other ventures.

“Completely and is the President’s decision,” he asserted.

In a revealing disclosure, Cross recounted his decade-long metaphorical tussle with Tagwirei over the country’s fuel pipeline.

He disclosed his advocacy for MOGS of South Africa to construct a secondary pipeline from Beira, Mozambique, to Harare, challenging Tagwirei’s perceived dominance.

Meanwhile, the government reiterated its stance against granting total control of the fuel pipeline to any private entity.