Police claim no report on Jonathan Moyo alleged fraud

By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |

The Zimbabwe Republic Police has claimed that it is yet to receive a criminal complaint against Jonathan Moyo, who is being accused of milking the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZIMDEF) of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The police, represented by Josephine Shambare, the acting commissioner general, on Tuesday made the claim during a High Court hearing in which a Harare man, Hardlife Mudzingwa, is seeking the arrest of Moyo.

According to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), Moyo connived with his deputy, Godfrey Gandawa, and other top public officials to siphon around $450,000 from ZIMDEF, which falls under the Higher and Tertiary Education ministry that the minister heads.

Moyo has admitted to unprocedurally drawing the money, but insists he was justified to do so since the money went to sponsor President Robert Mugabe’s birthday celebrations, ruling Zanu PF events and the purchase of cycles for his constituency.

Mudzingwa approached the High Court to press for the immediate arrest of Moyo.

However, according to Shambare, ZACC did not make a report to them even though the commission is empowered to direct the police to institute investigations.

This is despite the fact that ZACC was accompanied by the police when it attempted to arrest Moyo two weeks ago.

“The applicant (Mudzingwa) has not alleged nor proved that I was so directed to investigate first respondent (Moyo) and refused, failed or neglected to do so,” said Shambare in her papers filed in the High Court on Monday.

She said ZACC could not directly refer matters to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and urged the court to dismiss Mudzingwa’s case.

“It is clear that this application was manifestly ill-conceived and is nothing but an abuse of court process,” said Shambare

Mugabe reportedly frustrated Moyo’s arrest while his co-deputy, Phelekezela Mphoko, has publicly defended Moyo, saying there was nothing wrong with raiding government coffers to fund Zanu PF activities. Nehanda Radio