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“While the arrest of any criminal suspect is circumscribed by the Constitution of Zimbabwe, any arresting officer must base his or her actions on a certain legal instrument.
“In this case, I have read the constitutional provisions that establish the ACC together with the Act and discovered that the Anti-Corruption Commission has no powers to arrest.
“ACC has powers to investigate corruption and not to arrest any person. I have also observed that the fourth respondent (the AG) is the final arbiter in the event of conflict between the police and the ACC as both exercise concurrent powers,” he said.
Mr Nguni also cited conflicting statements on the arrest of four legislators by the AG Mr Johannes Tomana, the ACC chairman Mr Denford Chirindo, Home Affairs Co-Minister Theresa Makone, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
They were responding to the AG’s action to write to the commission and the Home Affairs Ministry stopping investigations and the arrest of the legislators pending finalisation of an audit of the Constituency Development Fund.
The statements published in the media, according to Mr Nguni, showed that high-ranking officials were not sure on what the law says and there was need for the court to spell out the position of the law.
“As a concerned law-abiding citizen, I want to know the actual position of the law from the court’s declaratory order.
“All persons with several statements attributed to them are respectable members of the society. In fact they are all members of the executive arm of the Government serving the same State.
“I am perturbed by the inconsistency of their remarks. The mere fact that their statements are contradictory and that they all work for the Government makes it compelling for the court to declare the law,” he said.
Mr Nguni stated in his affidavit that all the people who were arrested by the ACC should assert their rights after confirmation of the order.
“I aver that if all the people who were arrested by the ACC outside the quoted provisions above have been arrested unlawfully, they must assert their rights once the order I seek is confirmed by this Honourable Court,” said Mr Nguni.
In the absence of proof that all the people arrested by the ACC were arrested through recommendation to the police, Mr Nguni said all such arrests should be declared null and void.
He cited the ACC, Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, Co-Ministers of Home Affairs and the AG as respondents.
The cited parties are yet to respond to Mr Nguni’s application.
Online Reporter