Willowgate was a 1988–89 political scandal in Zimbabwe involving the illegal resale of automobile purchases by various government officials, uncovered by The Bulawayo Chronicle.
In the 1980s, Zimbabwe faced a serious shortage of motor vehicles, and was one of the few countries in the world where the number of registered automobiles had declined in the previous few years.
[1][2] Part of the reason for this was that Zimbabwe was paying off its foreign debt on schedule, rather than extending payments over a longer period like most other African countries at the time.
[1] In the year before the scandal, one-third of Zimbabwe's $1.8 billion in foreign income went to debt payments, with most of the rest spent on oil imports and the military.
[1][2] At the time, the law prioritised government ministers and members of parliament for new car purchases, allowing them to skip the waiting list on the grounds that they needed vehicles to carry out official business.
[3] In the weeks following their discovery of the cheque, Nyarota and deputy editor Davison Maruziva learned that ministers and officials from the government of President Robert Mugabe had been given early access to buy foreign cars at the Willowvale assembly plant.
[5] The Washington Post reported that the commission's hearings "struck a deep chord" in Zimbabwe, where citizens had grown to resent the perceived growing corruption of government.
[7] Though the men were given pay raises, Mugabe also stated that the move was a result of their "overzealousness", leading to public perception that they had been removed for their reporting.