HARARE - Israeli firm Nikuv Projects International has declined to shed light on the contents and the client associated with the seven large containers that the controversial company is shipping to Zimbabwe.
“Please note that ethical business practice does not permit us to discuss any of our client’s business affairs with third parties,” Anat Saadon, a Nikuv representative said in an e-mailed response to the Daily News.
“However, if you have any questions about our organisation and not any of our client’s business, kindly feel free to submit your questions,” Saadon added.
Nikuv’s reluctance to shed light on the shipment, which the opposition fears contains materials meant to manipulate and rig the crucial 2018 national elections, will do little to douse the suspicions.
According to a shipping memo that the Daily News saw last week, the seven containers are already at the South African Port of Durban, having been dispatched from Herzlia, Israel, in January.
The opposition alleges that the shipments stem from a surreptitious agreement signed last year by the Zimbabwe Registrar General’s office and Nikuv, amid fears that the materials are meant to be used to fix the crucial 2018 vote which President Robert Mugabe is unlikely to take part in due to advanced age.
Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesperson said: “The shipments point to some seedling which is taking place ahead of the next election, whenever it is going to be held. Unfortunately, Nikuv and its seedling have dismally failed to rig the economy which is on a free fall.”
Tobaiwa Mudede, Zimbabwe’s Registrar General, flatly refused to entertain questions from the Daily News last week about the consignment, and went on to eject reporting crew from the newspaper from a government function after being questioned about the shipment.
But the documents seen by the Daily News show that the suspicious consignment is being handled by a Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), and are protected by intense security protocol.
MSC Logistics, the Durban-based import controller and co-regulator of the transfers, also told the Daily News last week that its client confidentiality contracts precluded it from disclosing any information to the public, although it did confirm that the final destination for the bills was Harare.
A problem appeared to have developed after the Nikuv containers reached Durban Port and after the clearing agent tried to process their onward transportation to Harare.
It was apparently decided that the name and address of the recipient, Nikuv, was likely to attract attention and blow the lid on the clandestine shipment, allegedly leading to the addressee being changed to Registrar General, Harare.
A Durban-based official who claimed to have knowledge of the containers alleged that: “There are materials (in the containers) used for elections, as well as IT equipment meant for the same purpose.
“That is why they are stuck here because the whole process was supposed to be carried out very secretly to avoid detection of the contents”.
Meanwhile, reports from Malawi say activists there also fear that the shipment is meant for their country’s forthcoming national elections, rather than Zimbabwe’s 2018 vote.