ZACC terminates 19 ZRP investigators

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has terminated nearly two dozen investigators seconded by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, it says because they are no longer required.

Police sources however told ZimLive that ZACC had raised allegations of corruption against many of the officers.

One said: "Only those who had resigned from the ZRP remained. ZACC accused some of the officers of corruption."

ZACC spokesman John Makamure said the secondment of police officers from the ZRP was never designed to be permanent.

"The commission has recruited a significant number of its own investigators, thanks to treasury. This means some of the seconded ZRP officers will make way for our recruits. There is nothing amiss," Makamure told ZimLive on Thursday.

Makamure denied the 19 officers had been cut loose "because of any accusations of corrupt practices."

"Not at all. We agreed with the ZRP that as we fill our establishment, the seconded officers will return to their stations," he added.

ZimLive has seen a list of the officers who have been terminated by ZACC. Instead of being "returned to their stations", the ZRP has transferred the officers.

A police source said: "Most of these guys were detectives with the Criminal Investigations Department. Now they have been thrown to the uniformed section. On paper it might not seem like a demotion, but being removed from a specialist unit to join the uniformed ranks is by any definition a demotion."

ZACC is a statutory body established to be the lead agency in investigating corruption, but critics say it has not been successful in executing the mandate because its officers lack independence. It is chaired by Loice Matanda-Moyo, a judge and widow of former foreign affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo.