Online Reporter
Peter Matika
FORMER Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) MP Obert Manduna has been arrested as the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) continued investigating him for fraud.
Manduna, who has been under scrutiny for alleged involvement in a high-profile corruption scandal and threatened suicide over the probe, has now prompted a thorough investigation by Zacc. Authorities believe this case could be the tip of the iceberg.
Despite claiming to reside at the luxurious Kenilworth Towers at Ascot in Bulawayo, Manduna, according to court papers, is of no fixed abode and was arrested at around 5PM on Friday.
Court papers say between October 2020 and February 2022, Manduna allegedly used a fake power of attorney to convince Sithulisiwe Sibanda that he could sell her Stand 7278 Cowdray Park for US$6 500.
However, Bulawayo City Council had already repossessed the stand, the rightful owner Benard Mujuru had never signed over authority, and Manduna had no title, no rights, and no conscience.
By the time Sibanda smelled trouble, she had already handed over US$5 900 which she has not recovered.
Prosecutor Samuel Mpofu told Magistrate Maxwell Ncube that Manduna was evasive. Police looked for him at four separate addresses and residents said they did not know him.
Detectives say he switched SIM cards, used hired cars, and slept in hideouts the moment he sensed Zacc approaching.
One summons even triggered a desperate phone call in which Manduna reportedly sobbed that he would drink poison. Zacc dismissed the threat and tightened the net.
Inside the cramped Saturday bail hearing, officers outlined why the politician must remain behind bars — that he was of no fixed abode, an investigator testified.
Manduna, the court heard, was an “undoubted flight risk.”
“He vanished once, he will vanish again. He could intimidate witnesses as some claim anonymous calls warned them to forget the stand,” said an investigator.
The magistrate postponed the matter to today, granting Zacc 48 hours to crack phones, bank records, and secret deeds.
Manduna has previously faced fraud charges over a local school fund and escaped on a technicality.
