Harare, Zimbabwe / Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The government in Zimbabwe Sunday 11 October announced that it may have found two “irregular” transactions in the accounts of Nestlé, which has a Zimbabwe subsidiary. The company’s five bank accounts were blocked Sunday, Zimbabwe’s finance minister told the Associated Press. The Zimbabwe Independent reports that the accounts have since been unfrozen.
A week early, 4 October, the company stopped buying milk from a farm owned by Grace Mugabe, the wife of President Robert Mugabe.
The Vevey-based multinational announced at the time that this was because the Zimbabwe dairy board had resumed purchases from Nestlé’s suppliers.
The farm, now called Gushunga Dairy, was formerly known as Foyle’s and is one of many farms forcibly taken over by Mugabe’s government as part of a land reform programme.
Nestlé had not yet commented early Monday.
Links to other sites: Associated Press, Australian Food News
Background: Nestle stops buying milk from Mugabe dairy, 2 October 2009, GenevaLunch
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News story, GenevaLunch, 12 October 2009.
Filed under: Business
Tags: Grace Mugabe, Nestlé, Robert Mugabe