|
RESERVE Bank governor Gideon Gono is to be the star witness in an alleged fraud case in which Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his close relative Hebson Makuvise are accused of misappropriating US$1,5 million in public funds meant to buy a residence for the premier in the Harare up-market suburb of Highlands.
The Zimbabwe Independent is reliably informed that the docket was now with the presidency and police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri was awaiting the go-ahead to arrest Tsvangirai.
Cabinet ministers and senior government officials are usually arrested only after President Robert Mugabe has consented.
High-level sources in the police and government told the Independent this week that investigations were completed late last year.
Criminal Investigations Department (CID) chief superintendent Alison Nyamupaguma is leading the investigations team into Tsvangirai’s alleged fraud case.
One senior police officer said: “The docket is ready and it has been handed over somewhere. I cannot say who currently has it, but the people are quite high up. We have all the documents, including documents from the president authorising Gono to give the prime minister the money. We also have documents, which include bank statements, where the money was first deposited and all the banks to where the money was transferred up to the last transaction. In this case, Gono will be the key witness for the prosecution if we are given a go-ahead to arrest. But I believe the decision not to arrest is political because we were very thorough in our investigations.”
However, police spokesperson senior assistant commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena declined to comment.
“We are not commenting on the matter for now,” he said.
Information obtained by the Independent shows that there were two different sums of money released from Treasury and the central bank to buy the same property located at No 49 Kew Drive in Highlands.
An amount of US$1,5 million given to Tsvangirai was allegedly siphoned off by Tsvangirai and Makuvise, who is Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Germany.
Details showed that Finance minister Tendai Biti set aside US$1 million for the house in his 2010 national budget presented in November 2009.
The money from Treasury was used to buy and renovate the property, and this has been confirmed by officials at the exchequer.
At the same time, Tsvangirai was given US$1,5 million by the government through the central bank, after Mugabe had approved a request from Tsvangirai to buy a residence for him on November 13 2009.
This was after Tsvangirai’s failure to move into State House or Zimbabwe House after apparently being blocked by Mugabe.
Biti was unaware of the money from the RBZ since Tsvangirai
had arranged that funding separately.
Senior government officials said Mugabe might not act on the matter because of the political implications of arresting his fiercest challenger while the country was preparing for elections pencilled in for either later this year or 2013.
“I don’t think Tsvangirai will be arrested,” said one senior official. “The timing wouldn’t be right because of elections. It will be misconstrued as political persecution. This is the dilemma we are in now — do we just ignore the matter when evidence shows that public funds were misappropriated or do we just ignore because it will be tantamount to political suicide.”
However, law enforcement agents and the securocrats are pushing for Tsvangirai’s arrest, while Zanu PF politburo members believe that the arrest would not serve the party well.
Bank statements show Makuvise, who lived at 3 Everette Close, Avondale, Harare, was the one who withdrew most of the US$1,5 million. He made a series of withdrawals until the funds were exhausted as the money was transferred from one bank to another after it was released from the RBZ coffers in November 2009.
Four commercial banks, CBZ, ZB, BancABC and Interfin Banking Corporation handled the US$1,5 million. — Staff Writer.
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
