By Own Correspondent
Al Jazeera plans to broadcast a four-part documentary titled Unveiling Zimbabwe’s Dark Secrets: Al Jazeera Exposes Looting, Plunder and Money Laundering, a two-year investigation into corruption and money laundering in Zimbabwe involving senior government officials and their cronies.
While there is excitement that there are Zanu Pf officials in the film, a trailer released by the news channel portrays ambassador at large, Uebert Angel as one of the key figures in the scam.
This is a real let down for the masses that wanted a real expose of these shenanigans. Why? Because a closer scrutiny on the terms and conditions of Ambassador Angel’s employment might actually exonerate the clergyman’s role in the whole fiasco therefore putting a huge hole in the authenticity of the documentary.
My investigation might be the reason why Zanu Pf is not losing sleep over the documentary. They know the error in the documentary, and they know their escape route and it’s huge and very justifiable.
For starters – There is no record of this man’s swearing in. He doesn’t even appear on the official list of Ambassadors and never did.
He doesn’t attend any official meetings and reports straight to the presidency, not to foreign affairs. His post is really after a close look, an executive granted one but very nugatory and at most picayune with regards to the issues we hoped to see.
On another note I looked at this simple question that everyone but Zanu Pf is ignoring.
What’s the role of his office as ambassador at large?
As aforementioned, Ambassador Uebert Angel does not officially represent the government of Zimbabwe or Mnangagwa but in actual fact, he is simply the country’s salesperson with a title to convince the investor. That’s the best anyone can put it.
As a matter of fact, he alludes to this in a Nehanda radio interview done just after his coming into this Ambassadorial role, that he is not an advisor or representative of the President.
If anything, this man seems to be a country’s salesperson with a title to back him and Zanu Pf knows it so it’s not losing as much sleep as us who hoped for a slam dunk.
He is not on any salary neither does he get any other state benefits. As aforementioned and matter of fact, he was never on the official list of ambassadors and has no access to the meetings of ambassadors hosted periodically by the President of Zimbabwe
Something to note is In his first interview soon after his appointment, Angel was quizzed on the role of his new resume, and he said his mandate was to bring businesspersons to explore opportunities in the country and he also said he would use his connections globally and their connections and also his entrepreneurial abilities to promote investment in the country.
Was he not doing just like that?
In actual fact, our investigation shows ambassador Angel’s employment contract allows him to lure, bait investors and market the country’s capabilities based on its resource base so what he says to anyone in a bid to bring the desired results is immaterial. His duty is lure investors all cost into Zimbabwe physically to discuss with authorities on modalities of deals.
In short, His duty is to say anything and everything to bring you to the doorstep of the country and let the deal makers talk to the investor.
When that is done, he is not involved in the negotiations. This is the part Zanu Pf knows and most didn’t know including the Documentary producers.
If at all it’s true, the makers might have known that he is allowed to say and do what he was doing therefore rendering this whole documentary a fuss leaving us again empty handed in our search for facts.
The other point is they knew it but knew their audience didn’t know and that serves them more than us who will be shocked when truth comes to light whenever it was going to come after this damp squib of a documentary.
So, after realising that this man’s job is nothing more than a salesperson actually meant to lure people to sit with the authorities who then stipulate the modalities of the deals, it is very painful that we waited for something that the other party knew was nothing at all.
They know he doesn’t structure deals; he is not the government. Neither is he the government’s spokesperson.
The government structures national deals!
Here is another let down, in one part, an undercover Al Jazeera journalist asks what will happen if their deals with “prophet” Uebert Angel, are exposed. Whether they did in Angel’s presence or not is now just speculation however
The white person alleged to be Ambassador Angel’s secretary responds that: “Anyone who exposes anything is thrown into prison.” One give away is the Ambassador’s secretary is well known in Zimbabwe and he isn’t white – that will fall badly on the expose because joining lies with truth is a bad precedent.
The excitement dies down fast when one realises that the joy in the enemy camp of Zanu Pf is Ambassador Angel does not officially represent anyone but has the title to act as if he does due to his function as a non-official strategic salesman of the country to investors who will in most deals speak from a business perspective with a business tone not diplomatic tone that is for officially recognised ambassadors not Angel.
Again, this is another landmine that will give Angel millions if he decides to sue basing on his contract.
So, for Al Jazeera to base their argument solely on this assertion, is a bit farfetched and again a let down to the people that this expose was expected to serve. Angel’s word in his business dealings is not the official word. Finish and Klaar!
Al Jazeera also claims he said he is the second highest diplomat in the country. Again, that’s a salesman bumping up his resume which is not a crime but tact.
Let’s get to some facts He is the first to hold the title ambassador at large which a closer look at Wikipedia will tell you ‘is the highest ranking minister representing a country’ and Angel also is over 85 countries and no one in the history of the country can say that meaning he can claim to be the highest diplomat to investors, however the modalities on paper can be different and definitely are different.
The ambassadorial title is only there for the purpose of luring investors using a position of power.
Aljazeera should have done better and researched before making him their target. If that would have been done they would have chosen a real smoking gun.
A real person that will serve all Zimbabweans not this salesperson and this falls into the hands of the ruling party because they know the facts that’s why they are not screaming like they would have in the past. The last point is they said money laundering.
Moving money is not a crime if it’s legally signed for and if you listen to the claims of Aljazeera, you will realise that Angel was not trying to get money out of the country, instead he was actually interested in the investors bringing money to Zimbabwe not out of Zimbabwe. And the money was coming to the reserve bank of Zimbabwe.
What this weak expose has done is raise Angel in the eyes of his handlers more than anything.
It has given him a position of power unimaginable and now people see him as a broker of Billions, serving him more than anything, because people who could have been filmed didn’t really get filmed and here, we are focusing on someone who is allowed by reason of their employment to do what they were filmed doing, their job !
We need a real smoking gun if we are to discredit Zanu PF, not show someone doing his job as per dictates of his employment and above all a nothing with regards to the political landscape. This has also served the Zanu Pf looters not the masses.
Second last point is Zanu Pf knows Angel didn’t take the reporters to the President which was their target. He refused which means he played a huge political role.
Imagine if they had gotten there and filmed the President – now that would have been a documentary. It’s a pit, this is but just a dumb squib!
Last point, by operation of the obtaining laws and statutes of Zimbabwe, Angel is also allowed to be part of the 51 percent stake for any foreign investment made!
This 51% is not just because a person is a Zimbabwean but because a Zimbabwean has the capacity to take the 51% stake financially which Angel has.
