A business tycoon who had an Interpol red notice issued against him by former president Robert Mugabe's government has been fêted on his return to Harare.
Frank Buyanga, who has been living in Johannesburg, attended President Emmerson Mnangagwa's inauguration on August 26 and received VIP treatment, sitting alongside heads of state including presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of SA and Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Four days later, he was invited to the swearing-in of the two vice-presidents at State House.
For six years after the red notice was issued, Buyanga lived in his luxury penthouse at the Michelangelo Towers in Sandton, where his basement garage contains several luxury cars and SUVs.
He engaged lawyer Nick Kaufman to fight the Interpol listing, arguing that Zimbabwe had criminalised business transactions by Buyanga's companies.
Buyanga grew up in London and returned to Zimbabwe in 2005, starting several companies including a licensed microlending firm, Hamilton Finance, which was at the root of his falling out with the Mugabe regime.
Buyanga's borrowers secured loans - typically for between a few thousand dollars and $150,000 - with their homes. Mugabe's state security minister, Nicholas Goche, borrowed $70,000, then declined to repay it and asked police to investigate Buyanga, describing him as a "loan shark".
"They used to arrest me and keep me inside, without recording the arrest, then I would be released," said Buyanga.
"Then someone who is relatives with the police would come and say: 'Frank, just sign off the property or the assets and we will let you go.'"
Eventually he fled to SA, but even before Mugabe's fall in November, Kaufman had persuaded Interpol to scrap the red notice. The lawyer said it was "tainted by political motives", adding: "It offended the rules of Interpol in that it was essentially designed to coerce a resolution to what was effectively a civil case."
Buyanga told the Sunday Times he had received no special guarantees from Zimbabwe's new rulers, but that they had bought into his ideas about wealth creation.
"My focus and key strategy is to bring wealth to Zimbabwe. It is possible to make Zimbabwe the wealthiest per-capita state in the world, with the right policies and strategies," he said.
"The new Zimbabwe that's taking shape right now is a democracy, and I believe that's what will shape its global reputation as a safe state, which is the first step to attracting the kind of investment the country needs to really get going. As long as the judiciary, the military and the executive don't get in the way of each other, the rights and interests of all citizens will be upheld."..