BULAWAYO – After Interpol turned down several requests to apprehend and extradite exiled loyalists of the late former president Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean authorities are now appealing to individual foreign governments.
Prosecutors have written to the Kenyan government seeking the extradition of Jonathan Moyo, Mugabe’s former propaganda chief who fled the country after the veteran leader was deposed in a military coup in November 2017.
The request, reported by the state-run Herald newspaper on Saturday, came two days after officials from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and a Military Intelligence officer went to a vehicle repair shop in Harare and seized a Ford Ranger issued to Moyo in 2011 when he was on an inter-party panel set up to monitor the implementation of a power sharing government.
A certificate of seizure seen by ZimLive says the vehicle was impounded in connection with an investigation into Moyo for “criminal abuse of office as a public officer” which allegedly occurred in 2016.
Moyo, in a statement on Saturday, said he was not a “public officer” in 2011 when he got the vehicle but an ordinary member of Zanu PF representing the party on the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC).
He saif: “For the record, I want to make it clear that I did not leave Zimbabwe running away from any ZACC or police arrest warrant or any court proceeding. On November 15, 2017, the day of the military coup, there was no warrant of any kind against me and there was no criminal court process of any kind against me.
“I left the country and sought protection under international law after I, my family and home came under heavy military attack, by some 25 soldiers armed with semiautomatic weapons, explosives and stun grenades, whose clear and unambiguous mission was to kill me at the risk of harming my family.
“The only person who does not know about this is Mnangagwa’s henchman, Prosecutor General Kumbirai Hodzi. His extradition quest, which will be vigorously dealt with in terms of international law, is a desperate last-ditch effort to do what the army failed to do against me on November 15, 2017.’
Dozens of Mugabe loyalists avoided capture by the military in 2017 and are now living in several African countries including Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government says they are being pursued for alleged corruption, but the officials say the charges are trumped up and designed to neutralise them from posing a political threat to his regime.
Moyo has been a constant thorn in Mnangagwa’s side, using Twitter to direct strident criticism on Mnangagwa while agitating for an uprising against his regime.
Last year, Interpol rebuffed a request for the extradition of former local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere from South Africa. Interpol, in a written response to Zimbabwean prosecutors, said “the request may engage the organisation in matters which would bring into question its neutrality according to Article 3 of Interpol’s constitution” which says “it is strictly forbidden for the organisation to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military or racial character.”
The Herald said Moyo is accused of “defrauding the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef) of over US$244,575 and misallocating other funds.”
Acting Deputy Prosecutor-General Nelson Mutsonziwa is reported to have made the request, asking Kenyan authorities to “treat this matter as urgent and give it priority that the authorities’ circumstances permit.”
“The accused will not be prosecuted for any offence other than fraud, based only upon the facts stated in this request. This request is not being pursued for political reasons or any ulterior purpose. The Republic of Zimbabwe also undertakes to render assistance to the Republic of Kenya in any criminal matter,” Mutsonziwa wrote.
Moyo skipped the country when the military began a power grab in November 2017. He and his family were huddled at the Kasukuwere home when soldiers indiscriminately unloaded on the house with AK47s.
Mnangagwa’s government has been accused of harassing the families of the exiled officials, amid ongoing attempts to seize their farms and properties.
