Former ZANU PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman Temba Mliswa believes that the court’s decision to allow the corruption trial of Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu to be broadcast live indicates the involvement of a hidden influence in the case.
Chimombe and Mpofu have been in custody for over two months on corruption charges totalling more than US$7 million.
Their trial has been postponed to October 22 of this year. The duo appeared in the High Court in Harare on Thursday last week, with the proceedings broadcast live on ZTN.
They are accused of misappropriating approximately US$7.7 million from the Presidential Goat Pass-On Scheme.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mliswa suggested that an ex-convict is orchestrating events behind the scenes to humiliate the two men.
While Mliswa did not disclose the identity of this individual, some commentators speculate that the arrests of Chimombe and Mpofu are linked to their conflict with Wicknell Chivayo, an ex-convict with close ties to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The duo had leaked audio recordings alleging corruption involving Chivayo and several high-ranking state officials, and their prosecution is seen as a form of retaliation for disclosing information and “talking while they were eating.”
Mliswa asserted that it is only a matter of time before the tables turn against the ex-convict behind Chimombe and Mpofu’s prosecution. He wrote:
I didn’t want to comment on the Chimomb and Mpofu case but the latest revelations that the case will be broadcasted live has confirmed my suspicions that there is a third hand behind. The case is more political than legal as all vestiges of the latter have fallen away.
The theatrics are efforts of a hidden hand making a statement of power. The basic facts of the case itself would allow, for Chimombe to be given bail long back as he has nothing to do with the case. It’s not his company and he was never part of the negotiations for the goat deal.
Yet the hidden hand seeks to flex its power and flaunt its extravagant leverage in ZANU-PF. We all know who the third hand is but time is our master. An ex-convict can only survive for so long even with all the money to silence and buy support.
Ende ZANU PF hayiiswe muhomwe such that one can wantonly abuse others like this. Some of us experienced the same with ZRP Commissioner Chihuri during his reign.
I was persecuted and dragged through courts unceasingly. Yet Mwari ndewemumhu wese. Nhasi aripi Chihuri?
It’s a warning to all those tugging the strings behind the scenes. When you have access to higher offices utilise it for positive things not wanton abuse of others. If this were the biggest corruption case we could believe the need to televise all that.
Yet even bigger corruption cases, like the Sandura Commission, have been held away from the limelight. It’s very sad how a whole system can be corrupted and abused to pander to the whims of a monied person.
Still, there is a limit to the use of money to buy control and leverage in the party. One day zvinopera chete. We know who is behind all this. God isn’t for one person.
More: Pindula News