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Auxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
THE net is closing in on land barons who for long have been untouchable as their arrest is imminent, Acting Prosecutor General, Mr Kumbirai Hodzi, has said.
The move follows President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s declaration that his Government would arrest land barons who had turned themselves into demi-gods by parcelling out State land and creating unplanned residential settlements.
In an interview, Mr Hodzi said justice would be delivered without fear or favour.
“We have a number of high profile corruption matters and they are coming, involving very serious economic crimes. A number of them are now starting to come involving the so-called land barons, involving people in high commercial offices who for a long time thought they were untouchable. And those cases are ready and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
Mr Hodzi said his office was already seized with the matters and would not wait for the Land Commission to complete its audit.
“We are not going to wait for the land Commission to complete its audit; people are going to get arrested. We are already in liaison with the police because
I’m using my constitutional mandate to direct the police to arrest all people involved in the illegal parcelling out of land,” he said.
Mr Hodzi said his office respects the rule of law as well as rights of suspects.
“We will respect due processes and rights of the suspects and accused persons but we will also ensure that they are prosecuted in a speedy and robust manner,” he said.
Mr Hodzi said the thrust of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was to ensure that the justice system is conducive to investment.
“It doesn’t create good morals where persons who are guilty or responsible for heinous economic offences that have been responsible for sabotaging our economy are allowed to go scot free,” he said.
President Mnangagwa earlier this year appointed a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the sale of land in urban areas since 2005.
It will also investigate and ascertain the status of such land in terms of ownership, occupation and development, investigate methods of acquisition and/or allocation by current occupants or owners of such land and ascertain actors involved in the allocation, occupation or use of such land. — @AuxiliaK
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