News / National
'Arrest Obert Mpofu or else chaos will reign'
19 Jan 2018 at 06:29hrs | Views
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has been warned Zimbabweans will embark on Operation Restore Legacy 2 if he fails to arrest Home Affairs minister Obert Mpofu and other ministers implicated in corrupt deals.
The issue was raised by Mabvuku-Tafara MP James Maridadi (MDC-T) on Tuesday and created heated debate in the National Assembly during a discussion of the Finance Bill brought by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa to do with the 2018 National Budget.
"There are names in Cabinet that are so synonymous with corruption like Mpofu, where there is a problem with $15 billion diamond revenue which disappeared and the person who was in charge was Mpofu and he cannot be seen to be working with Mnangagwa," Maridadi said.
"If he does not do due process that clears him of corruption, then he must be fired because Mnangagwa said there are no sacred cows."
Maridadi questioned why the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) had cleared Information and Communication Technology minister Supa Mandiwanzira who was accused of corruption by former NetOne boss Reward Kangai.
"Zacc is not the police and he (Mandiwanzira) should be able to clear his name. If former Finance minister Ignatius Chombo and former Foreign Affairs minister Walter Mzembi were arrested for corruption, then why not them? Where does one man get money to construct a three-storey house which is bullet-proof and has a helipad in this country where there are no drugs?" he said referring to former Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere.
"We have ministers in this government that buy their children vehicles worth $200 000 and where do they get the foreign currency from?"
Maridadi said some ministers and top government officials were supposed to be in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison and not Cabinet and Parliament.
"The house which was built by former Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri was as big as Holiday Inn and we all know how much he earned, so where did he get the money from? Zimbabweans were patient for 37 years, but if nothing happens to those ministers, then we the people will do a citizens' arrest and cause a scene and see whether Mnangagwa will give them amnesty.
Chinamasa must go to Mnangagwa and tell him that he cannot do his duties effectively with these men," Maridadi said.
Norton MP Temba Mliswa (independent) said former First Lady Grace Mugabe had 20 farms and called on government to repossess them.
"We had a Minister of Transport who was there when Air Zimbabwe was being changed to Zimbabwe Airways and we need thorough investigations by Zacc. Mnangagwa is the man for the job, but the problem is the people around him. The whole Cabinet needs to be investigated or we will continue to have Operation Restore Legacy 2. I am not jealous about Mpofu's wealth, but we need to know how he acquired it. Zimbabwe comes first and we shall continue to tell the generals (army) what is criminal," Mliswa said.
But Chinamasa yesterday said it was wrong to name individuals and make allegations without evidence.
"If we pursue each other on the basis of lack of evidence, then there will be disaster. We are not accustomed to rich Africans and when we see a rich African we think he is a thief, but we do not say the same for a rich European. I first met Mpofu in the 1980s and already he was a very rich person owning buildings, and so let us be careful and have evidence before accusations are made," Chinamasa said.
The issue was raised by Mabvuku-Tafara MP James Maridadi (MDC-T) on Tuesday and created heated debate in the National Assembly during a discussion of the Finance Bill brought by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa to do with the 2018 National Budget.
"There are names in Cabinet that are so synonymous with corruption like Mpofu, where there is a problem with $15 billion diamond revenue which disappeared and the person who was in charge was Mpofu and he cannot be seen to be working with Mnangagwa," Maridadi said.
"If he does not do due process that clears him of corruption, then he must be fired because Mnangagwa said there are no sacred cows."
Maridadi questioned why the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) had cleared Information and Communication Technology minister Supa Mandiwanzira who was accused of corruption by former NetOne boss Reward Kangai.
"Zacc is not the police and he (Mandiwanzira) should be able to clear his name. If former Finance minister Ignatius Chombo and former Foreign Affairs minister Walter Mzembi were arrested for corruption, then why not them? Where does one man get money to construct a three-storey house which is bullet-proof and has a helipad in this country where there are no drugs?" he said referring to former Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere.
"We have ministers in this government that buy their children vehicles worth $200 000 and where do they get the foreign currency from?"
Maridadi said some ministers and top government officials were supposed to be in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison and not Cabinet and Parliament.
"The house which was built by former Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri was as big as Holiday Inn and we all know how much he earned, so where did he get the money from? Zimbabweans were patient for 37 years, but if nothing happens to those ministers, then we the people will do a citizens' arrest and cause a scene and see whether Mnangagwa will give them amnesty.
Chinamasa must go to Mnangagwa and tell him that he cannot do his duties effectively with these men," Maridadi said.
Norton MP Temba Mliswa (independent) said former First Lady Grace Mugabe had 20 farms and called on government to repossess them.
"We had a Minister of Transport who was there when Air Zimbabwe was being changed to Zimbabwe Airways and we need thorough investigations by Zacc. Mnangagwa is the man for the job, but the problem is the people around him. The whole Cabinet needs to be investigated or we will continue to have Operation Restore Legacy 2. I am not jealous about Mpofu's wealth, but we need to know how he acquired it. Zimbabwe comes first and we shall continue to tell the generals (army) what is criminal," Mliswa said.
But Chinamasa yesterday said it was wrong to name individuals and make allegations without evidence.
"If we pursue each other on the basis of lack of evidence, then there will be disaster. We are not accustomed to rich Africans and when we see a rich African we think he is a thief, but we do not say the same for a rich European. I first met Mpofu in the 1980s and already he was a very rich person owning buildings, and so let us be careful and have evidence before accusations are made," Chinamasa said.
Source - newsday
