Mystery over FAZ trip to Russia

📅 Published: August 26, 2025

Curated by AllZimNews.com

Its bid to benefit from the government’s economic empowerment programme failed and it re-emerged in late 2022 when, under the stewardship of the CIO deputy director general, Walter Tapfumaneyi, it coordinated the Zanu PF primary elections ahead of the 2023 general polls.

At last year’s polls—again under Tapfumaneyi and the CIO—FAZ helped campaign primarily for President Mnangagwa but also Zanu PF, gathering voter intelligence, intimidating the electorate and helping in efforts to suppress voting in critical constituencies.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson, Priscilla Chigumba, headed the election observation delegation to Russia.

FAZ was represented by its president, Kudakwashe MavulaMunsaka, who was accompanied by an unspecified number of the organisation’s members and CIO operatives, according to sources close to the developments.

One of the trusted sources saidFAZ was roped into the observer mission so as to allow it to “learn the ropes” on how Moscow runs its elections that have kept Vladimir Putin in power as president between 2000 and 2008 and then 2012 to date. “Munsaka went with a few members of the CIO and (other FAZ members).

They, however, did not want the nation to know about their presence in Moscow during the elections. “They have since returned but no report back has been made to the generality of the FAZ membership.

That trip has been kept a closely guarded secret,” said another source.

Munsaka did not deny that a FAZ delegation went to Russia, but he was not willing to comment on the matter. “I cannot comment about that,” he toldNewsHub.

The ZEC deputy chairperson, Rodney Simukai Kiwa would not be drawn into commenting on the FAZ presence in the Zimbabwean delegation to Russia. “What I know is that the Zimbabwe delegation had people from mixed groups and sectors.

I know there were people from the Foreign Affairs ministry parliamentarians and so on.

However, it would be difficult for me to comment on specific names of people who went there.

That is really difficult for me,” he said.

The sources claimed that the FAZ team did not use public funds for the trip. 🔗

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