Tongogara's daughter on the run

Sukai Tongogara, the eldest daughter of the late Zanla commander, General Josiah Magama Tongogara, is on the run as the fallout from the attempt to investigate top Zanu PF officials and certain State entities on suspicion of corruption continues to unfold.

Sources close to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) and the Tongogara family said Sukai was tipped off on Friday that law enforcement agents were on the verge of arresting her on charges of abuse of office.

They said Sukai, who is Zacc's general manager in charge of investigations, was being victimised for trying to expose alleged corrupt deals at various government departments and agencies. They said Sukai, a lawyer and former magistrate, was being caught up in crossfire in Zanu PF's internal fight over the indigenisation policy.

"Sukai was told on Friday that she will be locked up for the whole weekend in order to silence and fix her for daring investigating senior officials. This is pure persecution because what she is doing is on behalf of the commissioners. Our understanding is that this exercise has the blessing of President Robert Mugabe as he has openly spoken against corruption," said a Zacc official.

Another official said investigators were now living in fear as a number of them have been threatened at their respective homes by unknown people.

"We fear for our lives and it appears no one will give us protection," he said.

However, Police spokesperson, assistant commissioner Charity Charamba yesterday insisted police were not looking for Sukai. But Zacc spokesperson, pastor Goodwill Shana confirmed that a hunt was on for Sukai.

"We understand that certain people are looking for her. But as to their identify we are not sure," he said.

Shana said while Zacc was concerned about the security of its staff members, the anti-graft commissioner believed no harm would come to them. He said Zacc was still to be appraised on the reasons behind co-Home affairs minister, Kembo Mohadi's decision to redeploy the commission's chief executive officer, Ngonidzashe Gumbo.

Shana expressed concern that Zacc was not getting the required support from other stakeholders such as the police and the magistrate's courts which have been refusing to issue search warrants to the commission's investigators.

He said although Zacc had no other recourse after the High court blocked it from investigating the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board, the body was happy that the issue had been exposed.

Shana said it was now up to the public to judge which side was wrong or not. Although Zacc can investigate cases of fraud and corruption, the body has no arresting and prosecuting powers.

Sukai could not be reached for comment as her mobile phone was unavailable yesterday.