Finance official fired after exposing forex scam

Controversial Zimbabwean activist Acie Lumumba, fired just three days after his appointment as the chair of the communication taskforce in the Finance Ministry, has dismissed suggestions he lost his position because of his tainted past. Lumumba claims he was axed because Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube believed he could be ‘more effective’ outside of government. Soon after his appointment two weeks ago, Lumumba levelled allegations against four top Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe officials in a video posted on Facebook. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Central Bank Governor John Mangudya said the four would remain suspended for ‘an indefinite period to pave way for the investigations’. The Herald reports that Lumumba claimed Mirirai Chiremba, Norman Mataruka, Gresham Muradzikwa and Azvinandawa Saburi were part of a cartel controlling the allocation of foreign currency and bond notes to traders on the black market. Meanwhile, BBC News reports that Zimbabwean police say they have arrested 170 black market money dealers in a campaign against currency trading which they say has caused the prices of imported goods to rise.

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