The recent arrest of Zanu PF foot soldier from Mashonaland West province TEMBA Mliswa for allegedly seizing shares worth US$1 million in a local company is slowly but surely mothballing into a can of worms Zanu PF never wished to be opened.
Mliswa (38), Mliswa is currently on bail on yet another charge of fraud for which he is jointly charged with Presidential Affairs Minister Didymus Mutasa’s son Martin Mutasa (47) and George Marere (36).
They are alleged to have attempted to forcibly take over a vehicle accessories company.
Mliswa is accused of having fraudulently claimed ownership of at least 50% of the company.
He allegedly threatened the company owner, Paul Westwood, with his alleged connections to powerful politicians like President Robert Mugabe and Youth Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere.
Coincidentally Mliswa and his accomplices were arrested within days of him having publicly clashed with Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri over vehicle repairs company Noshio Motors at the centre of the ownership dispute between Mliswa, Hammerskjold Banda and Paul Westwood.
In his complaint to the Police Paul Westwood claimed that Mliswa fraudulently acquired 51% of shares in the company from Banda.
Mliswa denied any such accusations and in turn accused Commissioner Chihuri of corruptly conniving with Westwood with who he is in close partnership to scuttle Mliswa’s attempts at taking over control at Noshio Motors.
“I am on my to the police station and I know they want to arrest me on the instructions of Chihuri who is the most corrupt police officer in the country. He is promoting corruption in country instead of stopping it. Right now he is being involved with Westwood to have me persecuted just because he is corrupt. They want to take my company after making sure I rot in jail.
“President Mugabe must fire Chihuri because as long as he is at the helm of the police, corruption will never stop in Zimbabwe. He is tarnishing the image of the police through what he is doing. The police here just arrest people for doing nothing and abuse people’s rights through people like Chihuri,” charged Mliswa in conversation with SW Radio Africa adding;
“I’m not afraid of anyone. I fear God only, not Chihuri not any human being. They will arrest me on trumped up charges but they will not kill me. The courts not the police will determine whether I committed a crime or not.
“They are claiming that I was involved in some form of fraud. Two days in custody is not much because after that I will go to court and prove my innocence. I will prove that I am being harassed by Chihuri in connivance with Westwood.”
Mliswa was promptly locked up and events suddenly became fast paced as the police swooped on his accomplices Martin Mutasa, and George Marere, Hammarskjold Banda, his wife Brendaly, and Alfred Mwatiwamba, wife Brendaly Banda and Alfred Mwatiwamba.
The state outline alleged that in August 2009 Hammarskjold Banda borrowed US100 000.00 at five percent interest per month from Mliswa. He failed to service his debt whereupon Mliswa forced Banda to surrender his shareholding in Noshio Motors in settlement of his indebtedness.
Banda’s wife Brendaly who was the company’s Finance and Human Resources was embroiled in a dispute with Westwood over US $25 000.00 she had misappropriated and was suspended in October 2009 much to the chagrin of her husband.
Burdened by the debt demands from Mliswa and angered by Westwood’s decision to suspend Brendaly, Hammarskjold connived to get back at Westwood by pledging Westwood’s shares in settlement of Mliswa’s debt settlement demand.
Banda and his wife enlisted the help of Alfred Mwatiwamba in negotiations with Mliswa who had enlisted Mutasa and Marere to enforce his demands for repayment and when the plan to muzzle out Westwood was weighed and realised to benefit Mliswa with ownership of a company valued at US$2.1 million from a US$100 000.00 loan converted to investment the plan was adopted resulting in Westwood’s complaints to the Police.
On appearance in court Banda, his wife and Mwatiwamba were bailed for US$100.00 each while Mliswa, Mutasa and Marere were granted US$400.00 bail each which was temporarily suspended when the State invoked the notorious section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) to thwart the release of the trio from custody.
Stung by the arrest of his son Martin and cousin Mliswa Presidential Affairs Minister Didymus Mutasa whose repute for defiance of the rule of law is legendary enlisted the help of recently appointed MDC-T Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone and the two descended on the police station in Mbare demanding the release of Mutasa’s relatives according to the Police.
Both Ministers deny the accusation of attempting to defeat the course of justice through police intimidation by their visit to police stations where the accused trio was detained and demanding for their release from custody.
Minister Mutasa was in a no compromising mood when he accused police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri of reincarnating Rhodesian policing practices while Minister Makone simply made it clear that as the responsible Minister she was not going to sit back, read and be guided by reports from the same Police Officers accused of improper conduct by the public.
She made it clear that as a Minister she would continue to make physical visits to make personal assessments of cases where Police were being accused of improper conduct regardless of the political or other affiliations of accused persons to ensure human rights of accused persons are protected at all times.
The police station visit by the two powerful Ministers from the political divide that many Zimbabweans consider irreconcilable fed perfectly into the propaganda mill churning out political factionalism conspiracies in the main political parties.
But it is the unfolding charges preferred against Mliswa by the police ever since his initial arrest that is relevant and of interest to the generality of the populace than the subjective political fissures it is creating if any at all.
Mliswa has now been charged with a multiplicity of further allegations of criminal conduct arising from his land reform activism on behalf of Zanu PF.
The charges are dating back to a period over the past 8 years and the public must be wondering why such serious offences were kept under wraps for such a long time.
Surely it can’t be by mere conjecture that soon after his public fallout with police Commissioner General there has been an avalanche of cases being reported to the Police where Mliswa is the accused.
There is an element of truth in Mliswa’s accusations of corruption by the Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri that is fuelling the mounting charges he is facing.
The Police have already arraigned Mliswa before Harare magistrate Mr. Don Ndirowei, who remanded him in custody over new allegations that;
• Police were still preparing further dockets involving 40 new cases against Mliswa;
• Mliswa had intimidated police and because he was "untouchable”;
• Mliswa allegedly misrepresented to Petros Jacobus van der Merwe, formerly of Orlib Park Lot 1 in Karoi, that he could help him sell his agri-equipment without State interference for a 10 percent commission but in the end deprived the displaced farmer of all proceeds of the purported sale;
• Mliswa took Petros Jacobus van der Merwe‘s 108 cattle, three heavy vehicles, a cold room, three tractors, a drowsy hammer, irrigation equipment, generators and other items all valued at US$3 644 058 without paying for them ;
• On the second count, Mliswa misrepresented to Graham George Davis van Rensburg of Kwekwe — whose farm had been acquired for resettlement — that he could protect his equipment from being seized by the new owner.
• Mliswa is alleged to have conned the farmer to lie that he had an agreement with Mliswa for sale of the equipment and hence it could not be seized.
• Mliswa then allegedly took possession of 3 000 cattle worth US$900 000 and farm equipment including bulldozers, tractors, lorries, graders and pick-up trucks all valued at US$20 million from the designated farm. Van Rensburg only later realised that he had been duped when Mliswa claimed ownership of the property.
In his defence Mliswa’s lawyer Charles Chinyama challenged the state outline of the second charge saying that the cases had long been withdrawn by either the police or the complainants and his client had been acquitted on some of the mentioned cases.
Chinyama produced a copy of the High Court Order by Justice Lavender Makoni which authorised the take-over of all the property mentioned in the Kwekwe case by Soltex Pvt Ltd.
Mliswa, through his lawyer, also said in his bail application that he never entered into the alleged agreement with Van Der Merwe but instead it was World Mark Sports International that did.
Clearly the cases now being brought against Mliswa have been known to the Police at its highest levels of command all along but were kept under wraps because then the Commissioner General was in good books with Mliswa for his political correctness.
If there is compelling evidence that the Police Commissioner General is as corrupt as Mliswa alleges the invigorated energy with which the Police have suddenly focused towards his prosecution is instructive.
This is not to say Mliswa was in any way entitled to immunity against prosecution for crimes he allegedly committed but rather to drive home that whoever was holding back the prosecution must be charged as Mliswa’s accomplice in the commission of the crimes he currently faces.
This is what we believe Minister Makone must courageously expose by visiting the Police stations where the reports and dockets against Mliswa are being churned out to verify when, to whom and why the reports were not attended to then with the current zeal that the Police have devoted to the matter.
Those that see and try to portray such action by Minister Makone as an attempt to defeat the course of justice must think twice as there is a real opportunity here for the Minister to expose high level corruption in the Police force that has been kept under wraps for far too long.
Giles Mutseyekwa the previous MDC-T co-Minister in the Ministry failed to do that and put his trust in senior police officer’s reports and briefings with disastrous consequences that have failed to trigger desired policing reforms in the country.
Minister Makone must never allow herself to be caught in the same trap that ensnared her predecessor even if it means that she will be vilified by the state owned press we all know to have protected corruption within security establishments.
It is never too late for Ministers like Didymus Mutasa to atone for the wrongs they caused in the nation in the past even if it is in defence of their own kith and kin.
In that regard we applaud Minister Mutasa’s Damascus moment in realising how the
State prosecution services have hitherto abused section 121 of CPEA to persecute innocent citizens over trivial allegations with his tacit approval.
Minister Mutasa must never fool himself into believing that we for once condone and urge him to defend illegal actions by his kith and kin but are merely urging him to view the application to which section 121 of CPEA has been used with the same view he has after it was used to deny his kith and kin freedom.
That is the mindset that makes leaders outstanding when they openly challenge State excesses in dealing with citizens and not just their relatives.
Whatever will happen to Mliswa must be equal extended to his Godfathers in the police force who defeated the course of justice by failing to pursue cases against Mliswa until they swelled to 40 plus offences.
None other than Minister Makone is better strategically placed to ensure that.
If she pulls that one she will endear herself to all the victims of Zanu PF impunity currently languishing in deprivation and sores of injuries and fatalities nobody is willing to devote adequate resources, time and practical energy to not just expose but also extinguish.
It is good that Makone chose her entry point to tackle police impunity in defence of a reputed Zanu PF functionary.
When she does that she avoids accusations of political compromise being thrown in her way at the same time she sends a message to politically compromised perpetrators of persecution mischief in the police hierarchy that the end game of their mischief is at their office doorsteps.
No comments:
Post a Comment