ZANU PF yesterday expressed fears that Gokwe-Nembudziya legislator Justice Mayor Wadyajena’s US$5,8 million fraud charge may cost the ruling party dearly in today’s by-election set for Gokwe-Kabuyuni.
The seat fell vacant after the death of Zanu PF legislator
Leonard Chikomba in a car accident.
Zanu PF and the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change
(CCC) have emerged as frontrunners in the by-election.
Addressing a Press conference in the capital yesterday,
Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa indirectly threw Wadyajena under
the bus and said the fraud case had a bearing on the vote outcome.
Wadyajena faces fraud and money-laundering charges
involving US$5,8 million.
He is charged alongside his accomplices, Cotton Company of
Zimbabwe (Cottco) managing director Pious Manamike, marketing manager Maxmore
Njanji, Fortunate Molai also of Cottco and Chiedza Danha, director for Pierpont
Moncroix Mauritius.
They were granted $200 000 bail each last week and remanded
to September 8, 2022.
“… always accepting some of the shortcomings and correcting
them like what’s happening now in Cottco is what the government is working on
and it has a bearing on voters, especially in that area. We need Cottco to be
properly run as a business entity so that people who farm are paid in time and
their money doesn’t depreciate,” Mutsvangwa said.
“Our teams are busy on the ground. The politburo appealed
to the people in Gokwe to campaign and vote quietly. We want the people of
Kabuyuni to vote peacefully and decide who they want to represent them.”
Meanwhile, divisions have rocked the Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) amid reports of attempts to tamper with
evidence implicating Wadyajena.
Internal fights within Zacc reportedly forced the
anti-corruption entity to make a U-turn in its earlier public alert that was
posted on its Twitter handle, where it was claiming that evidence against
Wadyajena was overwhelming.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Zacc had implored the
National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe to do “justice” to the case.
The tweet was immediately deleted and reposted several
times since being initially posted on Thursday afternoon, before it was
permanently deleted yesterday.
Zacc insiders told NewsDay Weekender that there were
divided opinions on how to deal with Wadyajena’s case amid claims that some
“outsiders within government” were plotting to tamper with the evidence against
the youthful legislator.
“Some senior government officials gave a directive for Zacc
to alert the public on the need for Wadyajena to face the wrath of the law, a
decision challenged by others,” a source within Zacc said on condition of
anonymity.
Zacc spokesperson John Makamure unwittingly confirmed the
infighting on Thursday night saying an individual within the organisation had
posted the statement without authorisation from superiors.
“This is an internal matter which needs not to be
publicised. Whoever uploaded the statement on our Twitter handle did so without
authority from the superiors. The statement does not represent the position of Zacc
as an institution,” Makamure said then.
Efforts to get a comment from him yesterday were in vain as
he was not picking calls.
Zacc chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said she was at
a funeral when NewsDay Weekender contacted her for comment.
“I am at a funeral,” she said. “You can call me later.” Newsday
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