A former top police officer says he deserves to be
appointed among the new commissioners for the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption
Commission (Zacc) because he was behind the arrest of notorious criminals Elias
Chauke and Edmund Masendeke in the 1990s.
Brian Kashangura, a former head of the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID) and Homicide Division in Mutare, told the
interviewing panel that he was the real deal when it came to criminal
investigations in Zimbabwe.
“I think I am the best person in this country to deal with
corruption because I am the one that apprehended the notorious Chauke and his
accomplices, and when I was head of CID and Homicide Division in Mutare, I
tracked notorious robber Masendeke to Mozambique, where he was in hiding,” he
said.
“You do not need to look anywhere else when it comes to
busting corruption — everything is in me.”
Masendeke teamed up with Stephen Chidhumo between October
1994 and September 1997, where they caused a reign of terror across Zimbabwe
committing robberies and murders.
The two, alongside three others, escaped from Mutimurefu
Remand Prison in November 1995. The gang forced prison guards into the cells
before walking away.
Masendeke and Chidhumo then went on armed robbery sprees in
Masvingo and Manicaland provinces where they also killed people.
On several occasions they evaded arrest after clashing with
the police. Chidhumo was later arrested in neighbouring Mozambique and was
jailed at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, while Masendeke moved to Kwekwe,
where he continued with his criminal activities.
However, Chidhumo escaped from the maximum security prison
in 1997 alongside former policeman Pedzisai Musariri, ex-soldier Chauke and
Mariko Ngulube. Musariri
was shot dead by the police, Chauke was recaptured and
Ngulube died from wounds suffered during the daring escape. Chidhumo went on to
rejoin Masendeke.
The two were later arrested in Mozambique. Kashangura told
the panel led by Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda, his deputy
Tsitsi Gezi and Justiceminister Ziyambi Ziyambi, among others, that his track
record as a detective made him a suitable commissioner.
He told the panel that he would introduce football
tournaments to enhance accountability and prevent corruption.
Kashangura said the tournaments at grassroots level and at
schools would raise awareness about corruption.
Former MDC official Gabriel Chaibva, who is, now a staunch
Zanu PF member, said he deserved to be on the commission because he was a “man
of integrity”.
“I believe I am a person of integrity in the sense that not
once in the entirety of my life — even in the remotest of sins — have I been
accused of financial
immorality or malpractices,” he said.
“At age 54, there have been no such accusations. I believe
that if I am in Zacc those responsible for financial misdemeanours and stealing
from the public and private sector will have a tough time as I am well
conversant with international financial standards and accounting.”
Former Harare West legislator Jessie Majome said there was
no point in having Zacc if the commission was not independent.
The aspiring commissioners were drawn from different
professions and they include former police officers, legal experts,
educationists, accountants and auditors, law enforcement agents and members of
the clergy.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is empowered to appoint eight
Zacc commissioners from a list of not fewer than 12 nominees submitted by
Parliament’s standing rules and orders committee after completing the public
interviews.
The previous Zacc commissioners resigned in January after
Mnangagwa indicated that he had lost confidence that they were capable of
fighting graft. Standard
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