Zimbabwe's ex-foreign minister Walter Mzembi jailed after spending years in South Africa

A court in Zimbabwe has dismissed Zimbabwe’s former foreign affairs minister Walter Mzembi’s application challenging his placement on remand, extending his detention.

State-owned The Herald newspaper reported that Harare regional magistrate Donald Ndirowei has dismissed Mzembi’s application challenging his placement on remand.

The matter was postponed to Friday where a date of trial is expected to be allocated.

Authorities in the post-Robert Mugabe-era have issued warrants of arrest against Mzembi since 2008, after the long-time ruler, Mugabe, was unceremoniously removed from power.

The Herald reported that the court has recently confirmation of three outstanding warrants of arrest against Mzembi, who has previously held different cabinet posts in Mugabe’s regime. 

Mzembi, the 61-year-old former Masvingo South Member of Parliament, was arrested on June 14 when he, in a surprise move, returned to Zimbabwe from his base in South Africa, where he had stayed for around seven years.

When he left Zimbabwe in 2018, Mzembi was on bail, and he had convinced the Harare authorities that he needed urgent cancer treatment from experts in South Africa. He never returned home to face trial on serious charges of corruption and criminal abuse of office.

In 2021, State media in Zimbabwe reported that the government of Zimbabwe was awaiting a response from their South African counterparts following a request to have Mzembi to Harare for trial on theft and fraud charges.

At the time, Mzembi was accused of criminal abuse of duty, and theft of trust funds involving US$847 000 (more than R15 million). The crimes were allegedly committed while Mzembi was minister of tourism and hospitality, and was spearheading Zimbabwe’s co-hosting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Conference in August 2013.

When Mzembi returned to Zimbabwe in June, it was widely reported that he met his long-time comrade in Zanu PF, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, for a private meeting. However, sources in Harare told IOL that the meeting did not happen.

Mzembi, who was very active on social media platforms, had been a vociferous critic of Mnangagwa’s government during his sojourn in South Africa.

The government of Zimbabwe, under Mnangagwa, also sought to extradite former minister Jonathan Moyo, who fled to Kenya after the fall of Mugabe’s reign. Moyo is accused of diverting US$244,575 (more than R4 million) from the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

IOL News