ZNA claims abducted soldier was fired from army over sex scandal

By Tendai Kamhungira

The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) has said Elliot Piki  who was allegedly abducted from his home last Sunday afternoon and suddenly pitched up at the official probe looking into the August 1 killings on Tuesday was not a retired army colonel but a senior officer dishonourably discharged from the army for having an affair with his wife’s subordinate.

His lawyers had said that Piki had escaped from his kidnappers in Rushinga, in Mashonaland Central, before he came back to Harare.

But the spokesperson for the commission, John Masuku, maintained that Piki was not listed to testify before it.

ZNA spokesperson Overson Mugwisi yesterday dismissed Piki’s abduction narrative.

He said efforts to drag the army’s name into the whole saga was a desperate bid to tarnish the image of the ZNA.

“We are disturbed by false allegations peddled in some sections of the private media insinuating ..Piki, a former member of the ZNA, was abducted by masked armed men suspected to be State security agents using a vehicle similar to those allocated for use by senior ZNA officers.

“While it is true that Elliot Piki once served in the Zimbabwe National Army as a senior officer, he is not a retired colonel. He became an ordinary citizen after losing his commission when he was tried, convicted and cashiered by a General Court Martial for scandalous conduct of an officer on August 8, 2013.

“Piki had involved himself in an illicit love affair with his subordinate’s wife who was also his junior serving member of the Zim

babwe National Army. Sadly, Piki was aware of the drastic consequences of such an illicit affair for serving members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces,” Mugwisi said. Daily News.