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Zvamaida Murwira and Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has arrested 101 suspects this year alone, 10 of which were high-profile cases.
More prominent people are expected to be arrested and brought before the courts early next year.
Of the 101 arrests, 86 were men, and of the 10 high-profile suspects, seven were also men.
Zacc spokesman Commissioner John Makamure said they were finalising investigations into some high-profile cases and more arrests were imminent.
The latest one has been that of Ms Marry Mubaiwa, the estranged wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is facing charges of attempted murder, fraud, illegal externalisation of funds and money laundering.
“Early in the new year, Zacc expects to arraign other high-profile suspects before the criminal justice system,” said Comm Makamure. “Investigations are at an advanced stage on some of these high-profile cases. I am, however, not at liberty to mention names.”
Comm Makamure said the total of 101 suspects arrested on corruption related cases was as at Monday this week.
“We have 71 corruption cases in court,” he said. “That is the number of dockets that we have submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority. Of the 101 arrests we have made, 86 are men and 15 are women, that is only 15 percent of the total number of arrests made.
“Of the 10 high-profile cases, three are women, while seven are men. So you can see from those figures that the commission is not targeting women. The numbers speak for themselves.”
Comm Makamure said ZACC focused on corruption cases and not the context in which a case happened.
As such, it only acted on information available to it.
Other high-profile cases Zacc has handled include that of former Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, former Cabinet Minister Prisca Mupfumira, Mubaiwa and former permanent secretary Ngoni Masoka.
“I would not want to comment on a case that is before the courts, but there are sentiments being expressed that she (Mubaiwa) is a victim,” said Comm Makamure.
“But as Zacc, we look at evidence that has been brought to the commission. There is no way Zacc would have investigated a matter that had not been brought to its attention. If you bring a matter to our attention, we spring into action. That is how we operate.
“The commission does not discriminate according to gender, political affiliation and one’s status in society. Our mandate is very clear, we are independent and we are executing our mandate in line with the dictates of the Constitution.
“We don’t care who the person is married or related to. We look at the merit of the corruption case and we deal with that.”
Online Reporter