The president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions Peter Mutasa says the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission cannot arrest former Labour Minister Prisca Mutasa for alleged corruption leaving others because she could not have been working alone.
Mupfumira was arrested yesterday by the anti-corruption body which was recently given arresting powers and according to the Herald she is due to appear in court today.
The Herald quoted ZACC chair Loice Matanda-Moyo saying Mupfumira “is facing corruption charges involving $95 million. Some of the offences emanate from the NSSA audit while she allegedly committed other crimes at her current ministry”.
Mupfumira is currently Minister of Tourism and was in the United Kingdom just before her arrest.
Mutasa told NewZimbabwe.Com: “She cannot be arrested alone. She could not have been doing this corruption alone at NSSA or anywhere else. Remember this is this same person who refused to accept my name after being seconded twice to sit on the NSSA board.”
The National Social Security Authority is the country’s biggest pension fund to which every employee and employer has to contribute.
Current Labour Minister Sekai Nzenza has been holding on to an audit report on NSSA saying she is still studying it.
“We need to see more arrests and convictions instead of just arresting people then releasing them or dismissing their cases under unclear circumstances such as the Wicknell Chivayo case,” Mutasa said.
“The courts and all other arms must show that they are independent and that must reflect in their operations.”
The probe into NSSA could rope in former Finance Minister Tendai Biti as there have been allegations that he ordered the authority to invest US$30 million into a failed bank allegedly for a fee.
The issue which was widely reported last year was rekindled by Biti’s former colleague Obert Gutu who tweeted: “Millions of public funds in US$ were fraudulently & recklessly channelled to Interfin Bank Limited by an MDC Cabinet Minister for a cut. This money was then ‘lost’ when Interfin collapsed. If this isn’t corruption, then the word ‘corruption’ needs to be redefined.”
Gutu was, however, bashed for trying to settle scores with his former colleagues instead of exposing the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front which cannot account for US$15 billion worth of diamonds and US$3 billion under the command agriculture programme.
Gutu broke away from the main MDC last year following a leadership dispute when Nelson Chamisa took over leadership. Gutu and his party boss Thokozani Khupe said Chamisa’s move was unconstitutional and they went to court and retained the name MDC-T.
While the $15 billion missing diamonds has been touted for years, even in Parliament, following an outburst by former President Robert Mugabe, a fact-check on the missing diamonds showed that there was no way Zimbabwe could have lost diamonds worth that much because Zimbabwe had only produced 50 million carats of diamonds earning US$2.4 billion during the period in question.
To earn $15 billion or more, Zimbabwe would have had to produce an average 40 million carats annually, output which could not go unnoticed in the industry, given its impact on global supply.
The $3 billion for command agriculture is also being questioned.
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