HARARE - Gift Phiri, TheZimbabweans Chief Reporter, beat more than 200 other entrants to win the coveted Investigative News Reporter of the Year for his Chombos empire series. Published in The Zimbabwean over several weeks last year, the series detailed minister of local government Ignatius Chombos eye-watering wealth. Phiri’s investigation uncovered serious allegations that Chombo had helped himself to more than 100 properties in almost every city and town in Zimbabwe, including several blocks of flats in Harare and six stands in the leafy Borrowdale suburb. The investigation also revealed how Chombo amassed staggering wealth during his tenure as cabinet minister, including three combine harvesters, 10 tractors, 11 luxury cars and hid most of the wealth under a complex myriad of investment vehicles.
Phiri paid tribute to his editor and the whistleblowers. “They came forward. They risked a lot. I went through hundreds of documents and knocked on several doors,” he said. Editor Wilf Mbanga said he was extremely proud of the tenacious Phiri and expressed the hope that more courageous and diligent investigative reporting would be done to expose details of the massive corruption that has brought Zimbabwe to its knees.
Meanwhile residents of Harare this week demanded that Chombo declare publicly his vast portfolio of properties and prove that he did not acquire them corruptly. Other residents associations and local authorities around Zimbabwe are said to be doing likewise.
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