ZIMBABWE Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo yesterday demanded the immediate arrest of members of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said to have been captured by business cartels.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
She was responding to a recent admission by Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi that some sections of the NPA, Zacc, police and the Judiciary were captured by cartels.
Speaking to the media soon after signing a memorandum of understanding between Zacc and Transparency International-Zimbabwe (TI-Z), Justice Matanda-Moyo said the statements by Hodzi were a cause for concern.
“When he speaks about the prosecution, it’s actually worrying, but when he talks about other institutions without evidence from those other institutions, I am not worried yet,” she said.
“If our prosecutors are, indeed, captured, it’s a cause for concern. We, as Zacc, need to move in and actually arrest those prosecutors who have been captured because it’s a form of corruption to allow a person who is supposed to be independent, who is supposed to serve the nation to be captured by cartels. That is really worrisome and unacceptable in a democracy.”
The Zacc boss said she had reached out to the PG so that she could collect evidence of his allegations and the commission could move in and deal with the alleged cases of corruption, but Hodzi recanted and alleged that he was misquoted.
“The PG told me that he was misquoted. I haven’t heard the recordings. I haven’t seen the videos, so I am unable to comment, but that is what he told me,” she said.
TI-Z executive director Mundopa Muchaneta weighed in, saying the comments by the PG should be a cause of concern for every citizen.
“When it comes to fighting corruption, we expect to see strong and independent institutions. So the allegations that institutions mandated to fight corruption are captured is very worrying. It is something that should be taken seriously and investigated properly,” she said.
