ED steps up Kasukuwere persecution

0Shares

HARARE – The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) raided the family home of Saviour Kasukuwere on Friday, hours after the Supreme Court barred him from running for president in the upcoming elections.

Kasukuwere, a former Zanu PF political commissar, accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of persecuting him for challenging his rule.

“Desperation on steroids! Why is the regime sending ZACC to my family home. What valuation are you carrying out? @edmnangagwa. Is it criminal to contest you?” he tweeted.

His spokesperson Jacqueline Sande said ZACC officers were investigating how Kasukuwere acquired his house, but dismissed the probe as a ploy to intimidate and harass him.

“The visit by ZACC is in perpetuation of the victimisation and persecution of President Saviour Kasukuwere which followed his nomination as presidential candidate,” she said.

“We however wish to remind the authorities that it is not a crime to contest for presidency.

“If indeed such investigations were genuine, they should have been done earlier. The timing alone is enough proof that the intention is sinister.”

ZACC spokesperson Thandiwe Mlobane confirmed the raid, but declined to give details, saying she was driving from “out of town” and would respond later.

Kasukuwere, who fled the country after the 2017 coup that ousted former president Robert Mugabe, was one of the 23 candidates who filed their nomination papers for the presidential race scheduled for August 23.

However, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that he was ineligible to run because he had not renounced his Zanu PF membership and had not met the residency requirements.

Kasukuwere has vowed to challenge the ruling, saying it was politically motivated and violated his constitutional rights.