By Staff Reporter The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has slapped sanctions on Kudakwashe Tagwirei and his Sakunda Holdings for allegedly providing support to the Zanu PF regime. “Tagwirei and other Zimbabwean elites have derailed economic development and harmed the Zimbabwean people through corruption,” said Deputy Secretary Justin G. Muzinich. “The United States supports the economic well-being of the Zimbabwean people and will target repressive and corrupt acts and graft by Zimbabwean politicians and their financiers.” The announcement just after the second anniversary of the killing of six civilians by the army as President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government violently cracked down on post-election demonstrations on August 1 in 2018. OFAC said Tagwirei (51) had longstanding associations to the ruling party in Zimbabwe and high-level Government of Zimbabwe officials, including the current President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa (Mnangagwa), and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga. The two leaders were put on the sanctions list in March 2003. “Tagwirei has utilized his relationships with high level Zimbabwean officials to gain state contracts and receive favored access to hard currency, including U.S. dollars. In turn, Tagwirei has provided high priced items, such as expensive cars, to senior-level Zimbabwean government officials,” it said, describing him as a corrupt businessman. “Since former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s 2017 departure, Tagwirei used a combination of opaque business dealings and his ongoing relationship with President Mnangagwa to grow his business empire dramatically and rake in millions of U.S. dollars.” OFAC removed the late John Bredenkamp and 20 companies associated with him from the sanctions list.