Baba Jukwa saga: Cops urge officials to co-operate

POLICE have urged officials being called in to assist with investigations in the Baba Jukwa saga to fully co-operate with them after it emerged that some were not forthcoming, the state media reported.

The matter is being handled by officers from the CID Law and Order Section and most of the people are being summoned to the Police General Headquarters.

Police want to clarify certain issues on the case, especially on people who were mentioned by The Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi, who is accused of being behind the faceless Facebook character.

Last Friday, police questioned senior army official Lieutenant-Colonel Kembo and one of the designers of the Hovhorosi Style dress code Herbert Huruba in connection with the saga, as investigations into the case continued. This comes after police investigating the case have also asked Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo to help them in their investigations by submitting clarifications on issues to do with the case.

Environment, Water and Climate Minister Saviour Kasukuwere was also summoned by the police last week to give some information with regards to the case.

Lt-Col Kembo and Huruba reported at the Police General Headquarters on Thursday last week, but were still being questioned by Sunday.

Several other senior officials were expected to be called in for questioning over the case, the police source said.

This follows allegations by Kudzayi that he became aware of the Baba Jukwa issue when Minister Kasukuwere called him as an IT expert to assess and make an overview of information supplied by an Australian-based hacker only identified as Kennedy.

He said Kennedy had been brought to Minister Kasukuwere by Huruba.

Kudzayi said after making a report back to Minister Kasukuwere, he was referred to Prof Moyo who took him to the Ministry of Defence with whom he worked to expose the Baba Jukwa syndicate.

Kudzayi and his brother Phillip have since appeared in court accused of attempting to subvert a constitutionally-elected government and undermining the authority of the President.

They are both out on bail with stringent conditions.

The Jukwa saga has sucked in 13 suspects – Chawarika Matongorere who is based in South Africa, Wilf Mbanga and his wife Trish who are publishers of The Zimbabwean newspaper and are based in the UK, as well as the weekly newspaper's South Africa correspondent, Mxolisi Ncube; UK-based computer programmer Samson Chifamba; UK-based systems and software engineer Walter Shoko, George Chirakasha a Zimbabwean resident in the UK, as well as Anomie Drew, Piniel Nhokodi, Romeo Musemburi and Sarudzai Florence.