News / National
Don't arrest Tsvangirai yet - Mugabe
26 Feb 2012 at 14:22hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe this week warned police to avoid rushing to arrest Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on fraud allegations involving $1.5 million given to him three years ago by government to buy a house - because he personally authorised the release of the funds at the centre of the ongoing probe.
Police are investigating Tsvangirai on fraud allegations involving $1.5 million which the premier received, through Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, in November 2009.
Information obtained from high-level government officials and police shows that Mugabe surprisingly made remarks which could save Tsvangirai's skin, largely because he was aware of the issue and did not want his name involved in what could end up a messy affair.
"Mugabe took that public position against the police, maybe for the first time ever since he became president, because he cleared that transaction. So this means if he allowed Tsvangirai to be arrested, he would also be dragged into the case and it would have been difficult for him to emerge without bruises," said a senior government official close to the investigation.
"Those behind this issue forget that the deal was between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Gono. So police can't arrest one of them and not the other without opening themselves to charges of pursuing a political agenda."
Gono, who is close to Mugabe and is Tsvangirai's 'home-boy,' facilitated the deal although police now want to arrest him for refusing to be their "star witness" in court. Police accuse Gono of obstructing the course of justice as they intensify their campaign to nail Tsvangirai ahead of crucial elections.
Mugabe even suggested police were "making up things against the prime minister", surprising remarks given their long-standing bitter rivalry.
"What we don't want is people getting arrested on the basis of evidence which is not clear and on the basis of facts which have not been thoroughly investigated," Mugabe said in an interview with the state media.
"The police must investigate these cases thoroughly so that by the time they get to the stage of building a case and taking it to the court, they are quite sure that they have a case against the particular individual to whom it relates. But just rushing to build a case against somebody doesn't do us good at all. If anything, it harms our reputation and I hope they have investigated the matter thoroughly, not just rushed to make up things against the prime minister," he said.
Mugabe's position would almost certainly scare away JOC and police. On Friday Tsvangirai reacted angrily when a state media journalist asked him about the issue, screaming: "Are you a policeman?"
Police are investigating Tsvangirai on fraud allegations involving $1.5 million which the premier received, through Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, in November 2009.
Information obtained from high-level government officials and police shows that Mugabe surprisingly made remarks which could save Tsvangirai's skin, largely because he was aware of the issue and did not want his name involved in what could end up a messy affair.
"Mugabe took that public position against the police, maybe for the first time ever since he became president, because he cleared that transaction. So this means if he allowed Tsvangirai to be arrested, he would also be dragged into the case and it would have been difficult for him to emerge without bruises," said a senior government official close to the investigation.
"Those behind this issue forget that the deal was between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Gono. So police can't arrest one of them and not the other without opening themselves to charges of pursuing a political agenda."
Gono, who is close to Mugabe and is Tsvangirai's 'home-boy,' facilitated the deal although police now want to arrest him for refusing to be their "star witness" in court. Police accuse Gono of obstructing the course of justice as they intensify their campaign to nail Tsvangirai ahead of crucial elections.
Mugabe even suggested police were "making up things against the prime minister", surprising remarks given their long-standing bitter rivalry.
"What we don't want is people getting arrested on the basis of evidence which is not clear and on the basis of facts which have not been thoroughly investigated," Mugabe said in an interview with the state media.
"The police must investigate these cases thoroughly so that by the time they get to the stage of building a case and taking it to the court, they are quite sure that they have a case against the particular individual to whom it relates. But just rushing to build a case against somebody doesn't do us good at all. If anything, it harms our reputation and I hope they have investigated the matter thoroughly, not just rushed to make up things against the prime minister," he said.
Mugabe's position would almost certainly scare away JOC and police. On Friday Tsvangirai reacted angrily when a state media journalist asked him about the issue, screaming: "Are you a policeman?"
Source - sundaytimes
