Saturday, 05 December 2009 19:39
THE Attorney-General’s office has stopped the prosecution of the Bindura
Provincial Hospital acting medical superintendent who was facing 135 counts
of corruption amid claims the case could have exposed Zanu PF big wigs.
Beauty Basile was left to go scot-free after her trial was stopped midway
following the intervention of the AG’s office.
This was after she was taken to court on charges that she converted 90 000
litres of fuel to her personal use.
Basile was also accused of issuing fuel to undeserving hospital staff and
flouting tender procedures by awarding tenders to Medwise Pharmacy owned by
her friend, and Cypred Pvt Ltd owned by a former hospital worker only
identified as Kamuriwo for the supply of drugs.
However, officials from the Anti-Corruption Commission who had unearthed the
alleged graft were left fuming last week after a letter from the AG’s office
signed by chief law officer Michael Mugabe, ordered the trial of Basile to
be stopped.
The letter, a copy which is in the possession of The Standard reads:
“Proceed to have prosecution of this case stopped in terms of Section 9 of
the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (Chapter 9;07).
“It is not in the best interest of the state to continue with the trial.
Please be guided accordingly.”
But two witnesses who had earlier testified before magistrate William Bhila
said Basile had been involved in illegal activities at the hospital.
An ambulance driver at the hospital told the court that Basile had turned
the hospital ambulance into a private vehicle.
He said at one time a patient died whilst the ambulance was at her farm.
He also said all the visitors who came to see Basile were ferried back home
in the ambulance.
Former Health and Child Welfare Permanent Secretary Edward Mabhiza also told
the court that Basile used to abuse government facilities which were at her
disposal and that she flouted government tender procedures.
Anti-Corruption Commission officials who spoke on condition of anonymity
said they suspect the case was withdrawn because there were Zanu PF
officials who benefitted from the alleged corrupt activities.
They said when the charges were withdrawn they still had 31 witnesses lined
up to testify against Basile.
“The AG’s office is not representing the interests of the state. We now
believe that it is also fuelling corruption,” said the official.
The AG, Johannes Tomana, who has not hidden his affiliation to Zanu PF, is
facing increasing pressure from the MDC-T to resign because President Robert
Mugabe unilaterally appointed him last year.
On Thursday, Tomana referred all questions on Basile’s case to the director
of public prosecutions, Florence Ziyambi.
Ziyambi could not be reached for comment as she was said to be out of her
office and was not answering her mobile phone.
In May, the state took Zimbabweans by surprise when it granted bail to
Joseph Banda who was accused of fraudulently acquiring farming implements
from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe even after his lawyers had not applied.
No reasons were given but sources said the order came from the AG’s office
because it feared that Banda’s case would expose Central Bank Governor
Gideon Gono and other top Zanu-PF officials.
This will keep happening in Zimbabwe because ZANU pf only thinks about themselves and this is probably why investors won’t come to invest.
Weather the opposition is strong or weak like some of us want to believe that’s Zimbabwean problems are originating.
I really don’t believe that SORTING OUT THE MDC will improve the situation in Zimbabwe. I think SORTING OUT ZANU PF, will improve things in Zimbabwe.
Zanu does not have to surrender power to anybody all they have to do is sort out their party and have new leaders who are controlled by the party’s politburo (who will actually be running things) the problem is they believe in force and that only works on Zimbabwean people and right now Zimbabwe needs the international community, so Zanu needs to change their way of doing things, otherwise things will not get better until they lose power.
What you must remember is zanu pf wont sort itself out, they need to be sorted out. Now those mandated with sorting them out are making blunder after blunder. Now you say we need to sort out zanu but who will lead in this sorting out?
Tick-tock-tick tock!!!!!! time is moving and guess who is chewing in the meantime?
Abel,the only way Zanoids can be sorted out is, by encouraging the opposition to stop LEGALISING them.Right now Zanoids are surviving becoz of the MDC.Do u still remember the “tongai tione”phrase?That was the best option,if Zanoids are left alone,they will self-destruct.
Zanoids are in power,thanks to the MDC,who are prompting them.
T Masango and Abel
Are you saying if we get rid of the MDC Zimbabwe will get better??
Because I am saying if we get rid of ZANU PF Zimbabwe will get better. By get rid of I mean dissolve the party.
MDC may lack in some things to topple zanu pf violently like you want them to. But that’s not how PEOPLE judge them; we judge them by what they can do for the country and the people. They have been in a shared government for 10 months and already life has improved for the ordinary man.
Now though most (none aligned) people will want them to engage in the violent removal of ZANU PF. I think they should stick to democratic removal. Now the fact that some people blame them for that means that those people are on ZANU pf’s side and hence are also helping in keeping them in power. So why point fingers when your hands are dirty too??
ZANU IS THE COMMON ENEMY. IF YOU HAVE A BETTER PLAN OF REMOVING THEM LETS HEAR IT.
Dear Baba Tee….I would like to point out the obvious. Zanu is now on a steep slope to Oblivion. They know it.!! The only way they have of recovering the situation is to declare Martial Law. To do that, they must stir up the country and “Expose”! some plot to overthrow the regime. It will be difficult, so they will use their best efforts to antagonise the people to get a reaction. Don’t be fooled. They know the writing is on the door. They will now get VERY DANGEROUS. (Editor)
Baba Tee,go back to my post and re-read it with no emotions.We are saying without the MDC, Zanoids would have perished a long time back.If MDC had not agreed to join them,they would have been history by now.
Throw away the mentality of believing that anyone who questions the actions of MDC is obviously Zanoid.Be rational,my generation is now different from that generation which used to HERO-WORSHIP(CHEERLEADERS),we criticize so as not to have another monster again.
T.Musango, I think you must remind this chap that maybe if Zanu had remained with Sithole at their trying times they might still be in the bush now.If they had adopted this mentallity, there would have been no leadership renewal. MDC-T cheerleaders believe Morgan is the one despite all his blunders like giving Zanu pf a lifeline.
From what Baba TEE is saying, we must criticise zanu pf since they are the ones messing up. I wonder too if people had said lets only criticise Smith and leave our Zanu intact in the 70s, we would have had the compromising politicians like Sithole, capitulating in exactly the same way Morgan is doing now. Funny how history repeats itself.
Abel
Incase you forgot. SITHOLE was not voted out by mugabe, he left at will. So don’t talk as if they chased or fired him. What could have happend we all know he took people to war and those people won the war. He had left already so he could not share on the joy of winning.
OK LETS LEAVE ZANU ALONE AND LETS AHVE A BIG GO AT THE MDC. THEY ARE A BUNCH OF LOSERS. SCREW THEM COWARDS WHO REFUSE TO KILL TO GET IN POWER.
Baba TEE, when you read history, hold the book the right way up. Who told you that Sithole left at will. There a a virtual coup for all intense and purposes. Ask Tekere he will tell you. Dont let your anger blind you here on the forum to make a complete fool of yourself. Sithole was voted out with the influence of Tekere in a vote of no confidence where Mugabe abstained from voting. Sithole had diverted from the struggle principles agreed in Zanu. His collegeus believed he had been compromised by Smith , especially due to the repeated arrests which probably broke his spirit. Mugabe is now trying the same tricks on Morgan.
Anyway, the point is you must go and throw away the history books you read or the google site you stumbled upon on the net because they are lying to you my friend.vaSithole was booted out,period!!
Robert Mugabe was elevated after the Kwekwe prison sacking of Sithole by his fellow leaders in mid-1974 in a vote spiritedly moved by Tekere and supported by Enos Nkala and Maurice Nyagumbo but opposed by Sithole himself with a cowardly abstention from Mugabe while Moton Malianga did not vote as he chaired the meeting to sack Sithole from the leadership of Zanu.
T. Musango and Abel ,
What you guys need to realise is that mdc did not give zanu pf a lifeline. It was Mbeki, SADC and the AU that gave them a lifeline.They came up with this unity deal which mdc opposed initially.They all then stood in one corner and made the mdc look like they were the ones who were being unreasonable.Should the mdc have continued to refuse joining the unity gvt then SADC was going to give zanu pf the go ahead to form their own gvt which SADC and the AU were going to recognise and legitimize.I do not need to spell out what was going to happen to the mdc then.Besides most zimbabweans were crying out to the mdc to just join and make the situation in the country better.Some of these guys are same guys who are now saying why did you join coz now they have food & all.
Vana Basile hokoyo nenhamo, change is slowly on its way.
Sori,if we go back in history.What do u think would have happened,if Zanoids and good-old Zapu had joined Smith in 1976(Kissinger talks)?Let us be factual,do u think we could have attained a better deal than the 1979 one?
What about the internal talks,with Machel and Kaunda giving pressure to good-old Zapu and Zanoids to join because of the attacks that these countries were now undergoing from the Smith regime.There are some things to compromise,to give in to at a particular time and period,not when u realise that the enemy is down.
Sori maningi, if you a principled man you stand by your guns like what Robert does, there you must give him full marks. Manje anaMorgan at the slightest of foreigners who are of no consequence, they crumble like a deck of cards. The fact is simply that Morgan is weak. Thats why you saw him being summoned by a simple ambassador like Mcgee. No matter how powerfull the nation, you cant be summoned by a mere ambassador. Now you tell us Mbeki put pressure, so next time when he is president mbeki will pressure on him to sell the nation’s platinum for a song? We dont need cardbox leaders like that. One virtue that Mugabe has which Morgan can only dream of is consistence and standing by what he believes in, not just compromising at the first opporunity.
T. Musango,
These guys had the choice of going back in the bush and fight, which they did. Mdc had no choice coz they had fellow african neighbouring states saying that’s the only way out of this.I just spelled out for you what would have happened if the mdc had continued to refuse joining the unity gvt.
Abel,
Read carefully Abel. I said Mbeki, SADC and AU not just Mbeki.
Yes Mugabe stands by what he believes but some of those beliefs are what caused Zimbabwe to be in the mess it is now! No matter how great a leader, you need to be open-minded and be able to give room that your stance may not necessarily be the best at the time.
Granted sori, but do you think the rate at which your leader changes positions is healthy for an aspiring leader.In the past couple of weeks, there is one phrase which I have noticed to be very prevalent. Just this weekend , I was talking to some staunch MDC supporters about what Morgan said with regards to Zimbos going back to Zimbabwe to reconstruct the country. The answer was ” uya achateedzerwa here ?” meaning, do you think we still listen to that one?
Now a leader must not reach such a stage because of flip flopping.
You are right that some of Mugabe’s decisions are not for the betterment of the country but you must realise that in Zanu culture, if he flip flopped like Morgan he would have been removed by 1979 or so.
Abel,
Morgan maybe flip-floppping a little too much on other issues.Believe it or not i dont always agree with him on every decision especially when he makes a u-turn but i was simply stating that on the issue of the unity gvt he did not have much choice. He is not my leader by the way coz im not mdc.
“In May, the state took Zimbabweans by surprise when it granted bail to
Joseph Banda who was accused of fraudulently acquiring farming implements
from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe even after his lawyers had not applied.”
^^^^^^
There you have it ladies and gentlemen, the key to a successful bail application is …….not applying for it at all! Someone educate Pascal Gwezere’s lawyer right now!
-Vakuru Chaivo-
Welcome back vakuru chaivo. And you did not dissapoint when coming back with a bang.
Apply for bail and you dont get it, chill and before you know it, you have been freed.manje soo.
My employer has been abusing me lately Abel haven’t had enough time to kick it pazimmetro nemachinda.
I have been sweating it like a Hebrew slave ndichitaimira bonus munaNovember umu!!
-Vakuru Chaivo-