Mujuru smuggled diamonds to Kenya, will be arrested—Kasukuwere

By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |

The Zanu PF national commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, has accused Joice Mujuru, President Robert Mugabe’s former deputy who has now formed a political party, of smuggling diamonds to Kenya and vowed she would be arrested.

Kasukuwere’s statements follow recent remarks by his ally, Jonathan Moyo, who recently used Twitter to warn that Mujuru was not off the hook for alleged corruption and abuse of office.

Moyo, the minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, and Kasukuwere, who heads the Local Government portfolio, belong to a Zanu PF faction dubbed Generation 40 (G40) and they were instrumental in the removal of Mujuru from the deputy presidency in December 2014.

They G40 outfit is currently involved in a bitter war against another faction led by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over from Mugabe, 92 and in power for 36 years.

Mujuru was expelled from the ruling party in early 2015 and subsequently headed the formation of Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF).

Addressing informal traders in Glen View in the capital on Tuesday, Kasukuwere claimed Mujuru was aware of the crimes she had committed and said she must stop acting innocent.

“People must not start disturbing sleeping dogs. You better come out if you are a thief. We are aware of the diamonds that were taken to Kenya and by the way, in whose name were these diamonds taken to Kenya?” said Kasukuwere, a former intelligence operative, in reference to Mujuru.

“Mujuru knows that she committed the offences. You (Dr Mujuru) know that you will be arrested for committing the offences. Mujuru and some of her senior members were dismissed for corruption and they would steal during day time,” added Kasukuwere.

He alleged that a lot of money disappeared from projects run by departments that fell under Mujuru during her long tenure in government, among them dam construction, water supply and irrigation schemes.

Mujuru at the weekend noted during a rally in Harare that she still walked free despite the allegations that emerged from 2014, mainly through Mugabe’s wife, Grace.

She said she had been sacked from Zanu PF for speaking out against corruption.

President Mugabe has repeatedly accused Mujuru of plotting to topple him even though he left her as acting president during his trips abroad.

Speculation is rife that the Mugabe establishment will use the police and other security agencies to arrest Mujuru ahead of the 2018 general elections.

The ruling party is reportedly unsettled by Mujuru’s entry into opposition politics.

Mugabe in March reported that Zimbabwe had generated more than $15 billion worth of diamonds yet only about $2 billion had been accounted for.

Government has indicated that it will launch an audit of the diamond leakages which are mainly blamed on the ruling elite.

While Mujuru was rumoured to have been involved in the looting of diamonds, Grace Mugabe, the security sector, cabinet ministers, mining companies and influential business people have also been fingered in the leakages. Nehanda Radio