Registrar General Clemence Masango has been arrested by (ZACC) Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission for a vehicle scam, state media has reported. Masango is accused of purchasing five service vehicles fraudulently. He was picked by the police today and is still in police custody.
His arrest comes after the government carried out a forensic audit and a ZACC investigation that were concluded this week. State media reports two vehicles have already been impounded. Masango’s arrested vehicles scam comes as the country is currently under a nationwide lockdown.
Masango was appointed the Registrar General in September 2018 replacing long serving Tobaiwa Mudede. His appointment was met with disgruntlement from the likes of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
Masango is presiding over an incapacitated Registry Department which has failed to clear a passport backlog for the past two years. The Ministry of Home Affairs department faces serious foreign currency shortages.
Catch and release
It remains to be seen if Masango’s case is going to hold water as previous cases have been a ‘catch and release scenario.’ Top government employees such as former Minister of Tourism Priscilla Mupfumira were arrested but their cases never saw the light of the day as they slowed died. Other top civil servants once arrested are the likes of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Munesushe Munodawafa who was accused of skipping tender procedures during his time in the Ministry of Transport. His case was shelved and now forgotten. He was rewarded with a new government job despite him facing criminal abuse of office.
ZACC and Clemence Masango arrest
The Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission has been accused of being corrupt by civil society organisations. The organisation has not successfully prosecuted a top government official to conviction. All the cases at ZACC end up being acquitted. Political analysts have often labelled ZACC as a captured institution that arrests opponents of people in high offices.
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