Jonathan Moyo claims information was stolen from his office to nail him

By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |

Jonathan Moyo, the Higher and Tertiary Education minister who is facing allegations of looting the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZIMDEF), has claimed some of the information that is being used to try and nail him was stolen from his office.

Legally, stolen information is not admissible as evidence during prosecution as it is considered to have been criminally obtained.

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) wants Moyo to be prosecuted for allegedly leading the looting of more than $400,000 from ZIMDEF, a unit that falls under his ministry and is meant to develop professional skills.

The commission is reportedly probing a second set of allegations in which the minister is reported to have been conniving in the siphoning of some $2 million from ZIMDEF.

Moyo does not deny unprocedurally drawing ZIMDEF money on the first set of accusations, insisting that the money was needed to fund ruling Zanu PF activities.

On the $2 million graft reports, he took to Twitter to suggest that the information being used was obtained when unidentified people broke into his office.

Moyo’s offices at the New Government Complex were broken into in early August, but the police have not managed to identify who did it.

The reported break-in came just after the army commander, Constantino Chiwenga, delivered a broadside at Moyo for seeking to destroy Zanu PF from within.

NewsDay quoted an unnamed Higher and Tertiary Education official who said the documents were stolen when the break-in occurred.

“The stuff that has just been released in the media was never taken by ZACC investigators, but we suspect it was taken when the ministry offices were broken into. A certain staffer who was within the ministry, we suspect, could be behind the issue,” said the official.

There is no dispute, though, that information relating to the alleged $430,000 fraud was properly obtained. Nehanda Radio