A former Cabinet Minister, a Minister of State for
Provincial Affairs and a prominent property mogul face arrest for criminal
abuse of office, fraud and abuse of funds following investigations into land
deals by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.
Although the names could not be divulged, ZACC officers
were said to be finalising processes to pick them up any day from now.
Investigations have been completed in more than a dozen
cases involving the alleged sale of State land and corrupt allocation of
housing stands. This follows an audit report into sales completed last year by
a commission of inquiry led by Justice Tendai Uchena that traced land transfers
in urban areas since 2005.
ZACC chairperson Justice Loyce Matanda-Moyo confirmed the
development, saying the former Cabinet Minister ranked top among the alleged
land barons. She said investigators were finalising the dockets for at least 12
cases in Harare alone.
“We have 12 active cases in Harare that are nearing
completion. A former Cabinet Minister has most of those cases and ranks tops.
Those cases are nearly complete. I cannot divulge the intricate details now,”
said Justice Matanda-Moyo.
In Harare prominent names recommended for investigation by
the Uchena Commission included former First Lady Grace Mugabe, former Cabinet
Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo, ex-Local Government permanent secretary Engineer
George Mlilo, ex-Cabinet minister Ms Nyasha Chikwinya, businessman Dr Philip
Chiyangwa, former Harare South legislator Mr Shadreck Mashayamombe and Mr Nhamo
Tutisani.
“In Gweru, investigators are nearly through with a big case
involving former Minister of State and a well-known property mogul. We planned
to decentralise to all provinces so that we can fast-track investigations into
all cases raised by the commission but we were forced to delay because of the
Covid-19 pandemic.”
Justice Matanda-Moyo said once the lockdown has been
lifted, ZACC will be opening an office in Bulawayo to deal with all the cases
in the Matabeleland provinces.
“We are also planning to recruit more officers so that we
can open a Masvingo office soon.”
The Uchena Commission revealed that land barons, housing
co-operative leaders, property developers and politically-connected people
illegally sold $3 billion worth of urban State land since 2005 and pocketed
most of the funds.
It also recommended the investigation and possible
prosecution of 431 cases of suspected corruption in the sale of State land.
The Commission also recommended lifestyle audits and
investigation of possible abuse of office charges for past and present
Government officers connected with managing State land.
Thousands of desperate home-seekers purchased housing
stands from land barons only to find that there were no roads, water or sewer
while some of the stands were on wetlands, servitudes, sites earmarked for
schools, clinics or other places where housing was not allowed.
Secretary to the Uchena Commission, who is also Justice,
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary, Mrs Virginia Mabhiza, told
The Sunday Mail that Government was working out ways to regularise some of the
housing co-operatives.
“The secretariat has set up committees to look into ways of
implementing the recommendations from the Uchena Commission report,” said Mrs
Mabhiza.
“We have finished setting up the implementation committees
for each province. The committees will now move into the provinces in order to
start implementing recommendations from reports for each province.
“Where there are cases that need follow up they will do so
and this includes regularisation. Where there are cases that need to be
reported to law enforcement, they will be reported and the law will take its
course.”
She said the committees had been delayed by the national
lockdown.
“We are waiting for the restrictions to be eased so that we
can start moving in and implement the recommendations. But everything now is
with the implementation committees and they are handling each and every case
that may have been flagged by the Commission.
“You will recall that the secretariat had senior officials
from the ZRP (Zimbabwe Republic Police) who helped with gathering of evidence.
They also drafted dockets for cases that needed prosecution and some of the
cases have already been before the courts.”
Sunday Mail
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