Kaukonde owns Amalgamated Motor Corporation, a lucrative car dealership, and Closelink. He also owns the flamboyant SPA supermakert in the highly coveted Borrowdale Brooke surbub of Harare, Zimabwe. Borrowdale Brooke is home toZimbabwe's elite.
The firm Amalgamated Motor Corporation (AMC), owned by the former chairman of ZANU-PF (governing party) for the Mashonaland region, Ray Kaukonde, made some good deals supplying top of the range import vehicles to various government institutions. Kaukonde has used his influence in ZANU-PF and the government (he is close to Solomon Mujuru, the husband of Vice President Joyce Mujuru) to win contracts.
Some of these contacts have been paid by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), which itself received a around twenty Mitsubishi Colt cars for its directors as well as Mitsubishi Prado and Mercedes Benz for its top officials, including the governor Gideon Gono and his three deputies.
Kaukonde also has a contract for the exclusive supply of these makes of car to members of the government. The Peugeot 706 attributed to deputy ministers were hence supplied by Kaukonde. Furthermore, the latter has obtained an agreement to supply the 66 members of the Zimbabwe Senate with small Madza Eagle twin cab trucks, assembled locally by the firm Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries. Half of the sums received by AMC for this contract will be paid in foreign currency, officially in order to enable him to buy spare parts abroad needed for the assembly of the vehicles.
Kaukonde rose from being an intelligence officer within Zimbabwe's secret service to a multimillionaire with interests in car sales, agriculture and banking.
Ray Kaukonde Opens Zimbabwe’s biggest supermarket at Joina city.
Ray Kaukonde, through his Scotia Group of companies on Friday opened
Joina City Spar Zimbabwe’s largest supermarket by floor area. The
1500m2 supermarket at the base of the 24 storey Joina City building
opened its doors to the public just the same time as the building was
commissioned.
Thousands of people attended the opening ceremony to witness the
opening of the imposing building that had become a symbol of
Zimbabwe’s economic misery for the past decade. The Joina City touted
by many as a ‘city within a city’ opened its doors more than a decade
after construction began as years of economic meltdown precipitated by
Zanu PF’s warped economic policies saw many buildings like this take
decades to complete
The Joina City Spar a stark opposite of what used to be the case with
shops in 2008 exudes with world class decorations and is stocked with
fresh basic goods and luxury items one would have dreamt to find in
Johannesburg a few weeks ago. However, 99 percent of the goods are
imported, again a reminder that Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector is
still non-existent.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries
President, Mr. Kumbirai Katsande said "Our economy is still in crisis
but crises also create opportunities. We are treading on one of the
areas that will lead us out of the crisis," he said.
He went on to say that he was confident that the opening of the Joina
City will be an anecdote for Zimbabwe’s ailing manufacturing sector.
On employment opportunities, he said Joina City spar will employ 150
permanent workers
Also present at the opening ceremony were Harare’s business executives
aligned to Zanu PF nad ofcourse, Ray Kaukonde the owner. Speaking to
ZimDiaspora, Kaukonde said that he preferred his investments to speak
for themselves.
“I don’t prefer talking about my investments, I would rather let them
speak for themselves” He said
The Zanu PF politician cum businessman has a vast business empire that
stretches across the border into South Africa. In Zimbabwe alone, he
owns RPK buses, Innscor Africa Limited, Scotia Steel, Ray and Bryan,
Bateleur Ventures, Motor City Toyota, Ray and Max Construction ,
Borrowdale Brooke Spar and an engineering firm currently involved in
World cup projects in South Africa.
Zimbabweans from all walks of life expressed happiness at the opening
of the shop but decried the fact that, the unity government and
dollarization seemed to be benefitting rich Zanu PF politicians.
“I am happy Joina City is open and offering very competitive goods and
services, but the problem is much of the businesses are owned by Zanu
PF politicians. It seems, dollarization and the little peace brought
about by the unity government is benefiting them. They are becoming
richer and richer while many of us remain shoppers” said Mr. Garikai
Manzungu. Many other shoppers interviewed by the ZimDiaspora expressed
the same sentiments that Zimbabwe’s found new peace and tranquility as
well as dollarization was benefiting Zanu PF politicians more.
President Mugabe formed a unity government with his long time rival
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai after a decade of fighting. The unity
government which came into life in February 2009 came as a relief to
Zimbabweans after a decade of social and economic meltdown that saw
empty shelves in shops.
Dollarisation coupled with economic sanity brought about by the able
Minister of Finance and MDC-T’s secretary general, Tendai Biti has
seen Harare cough back to life. However, worrying is the fact that
much of the beneficiaries are Zanu PF politicians.
http://www.zimdiaspora.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3052:-zanu-pfs-kaukonde-opens-zims-largest-supermarket-ever&catid=38:travel-tips&Itemid=18Labels: Amalgamated Motor Corporation, Ray Kaukonde Zimbabwe, ray kaukonde zimbabwe borrowdale spar, ray kaukonde zimbabwe governor, Raymond Kaukonde Zimbabwe Millionaire
