Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of former vice president
Phelekezela Mphoko who arrived in the country on Friday through Plumtree Border
Post amid reports that he might have been detained upon his entry in the
country from Botswana.
Former Higher and Tertiary Education minister, Jonathan
Moyo, alleged yesterday that Mphoko had been handed to the Zimbabwean
authorities by his hosts, the Government of Botswana.
“Impeccable sources in Plumtree say that the Botswana
immigration authorities have today handed over former VP Phelekezela Mphoko to
the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) who are said to be holding him. Why this is
happening after assurances that he was free to return is mind boggling!” Moyo
wrote on micro blogging site, Twitter.
While the ZDF and the police have denied Moyo’s claims,
highly-placed sources in government told the Daily News on Sunday that Mphoko
faces charges of defeating the course of justice as he has been implicated in a
couple of confrontations with law enforcement agents.
In July last year, he reportedly descended on Avondale
Police Station in Harare at night and ordered the release of top Zimbabwe
National Road Administration (Zinara) officials namely Moses Juma (former
acting chief executive officer of Zinara) and Davison Norupiri (a non-executive
director),who had been arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission
(Zacc) on graft allegations involving over $1,3 million.
Mphoko, who was acting president at the time, arrived at
the police station at night and secured the immediate release of the duo on the
grounds that they were “his boys”.
Mugabe was away in Rwanda when this happened.
Mphoko was also acting president in May this year when he
allegedly caused a storm after he reportedly stormed into Bulawayo Central
Police Station, and expressed anger over the arrest of several Zanu PF
activists in connection with the intra-party violence that had occurred at the
party’s provincial offices at Davis Hall.
He also reportedly secured their release.
Contacted for comment yesterday, both the police and ZDF
denied claims that they had taken Mphoko into their custody.
“It’s not our duty to arrest people; that is the duty of
the police. You should be calling Mai Charamba to ask about that,” said colonel
Overson Mugwisi, spokesperson of the ZDF.
Police spokesperson, Charity Charamba, professed ignorance
over the matter saying as far as she was concerned, the former vice president
was not wanted by the police.
She said: “I am not aware of such an arrest. In fact, I
have been so busy these last few days I have not heard anything of that
nature.”
Mphoko had been holed up in Botswana since the ZDF launched
Operation Restore Legacy, targeting “criminal” elements around former president
Robert Mugabe, accused of causing instability in the country.
He had left the country on an official visit to Japan on
November 14, a day before the army launched the operation but did not return
home until Friday when he resurfaced at Plumtree Border Post where he and his
family were driven through to the Zimbabwe border side in a kombi.
They were then whisked away in private vehicles.
Mphoko’s sudden return followed media reports that Botswana
had given him until December 1 to leave the country or face deportation.
The Botswana government, through the micro blogging site
Twitter, denied the report saying Mphoko had left the country on his own
volition.
“Former vice president Mphoko was not deported from
Botswana…Mphoko entered Botswana on the November 22, 2017 from a third country.
He departed for Zimbabwe yesterday of his own free will,” the Government of
Botswana said in a statement released to clarify Mphoko’s return on Friday.
“In the context of media reports, speculation and inquiries
this is to note for the record that the former vice president of the Republic
of Zimbabwe…Mphoko, was not deported or otherwise forced to leave Botswana.”
The recent clampdown by the new government on “criminals”
around Mugabe has already nabbed former Finance minister Ignatius Chombo and
former Zanu PF youth league secretary, Kudzanai Chipanga who are among the
Generation 40 (G40) kingpins who are languishing in remand prison.
Chombo is being accused of alleged corrupt deals, some
dating as far back as 1997.
He was arrested by the army on November 14.
Chipanga faces charges of publishing or communicating false
statements prejudicial to the State as defined in Section 31 (a) (iii) of the
Criminal (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9.23 or alternatively causing
disaffection among the police force or defence forces as defined in section 30
of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
The charges arose from a press conference where he accused
ZDF commander Constantino Chiwenga of stealing money realised from diamond
mining in Marange.
Moyo, along with former Zanu PF political commissar Saviour
Kasukuwere have since fled the country.
With most of the G40 members either detained or in hiding,
Mphoko, who is linked to G40, might have been hesitant to come back home as he
feared the prospects of arrest.
Also in August this year, Mphoko was named in a bribery
case in which he is alleged to have controversially acquired a stake in a
business run by a Bulawayo-based Pakistani family.
The Pakistanis, led by Imran Shahzad, were under
investigation on allegations of procuring and rebranding expired foodstuffs at
ridiculously low prices from South Africa for re-sale in the country.
Imran and family run Bulk Cash and Carry Wholesalers (BCCW)
in Bulawayo, an entity many residents here now believe sells cheaper foodstuffs
and basic commodities.
Some of the foodstuffs are said to be sprayed with
dangerous chemicals that have been banned in the southern African region so as
to remove pests that develop in the products because of expiry.
The Daily News previously reported that Mphoko had been
sucked into a dispute between BCCW and one of its employees who made a report
to the police accusing the company of externalising foreign currency. Daily
News
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