Ex-CIO boss exposes judiciary, police
MOSES MATENGA
Corruption is rife in the judiciary where court officials are reportedly involved in bribing Magistrates for favorable court outcomes, former Central Intelligence Organisation (CID) Director General Retired Major General Happyton Bonyongwe has claimed.
Bonyongwe also claimed that corruption was also rife in the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), the police and other key institutions adding that he wrote a number of reports during the days of the late former President Robert Mugabe flagging the graft.
He said worse corruption was within the business sector and included tax evasion, smuggling among other vices.
Bonyongwe also admitted that some within the CIO were also part of the rot.
He was writing in his book, One Among Many, my contribution to the Zimbabwean story, published last week.
“Matters worsened when corruption crept into the judiciary as has been widely reported,” the former CIO boss said.
“It was alleged that some lawyers connive with Magistrates and prosecutors to throw cases one way or the other. I recall a lawyer who was representing me in a civil case saying that we had a real challenge as the opposing lawyer was notorious for bribing court officials. True enough, the case died a natural death,” he said.
He said during his time as Director General of the CIO, he created a unit to fight corruption that took the form of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) known for enforcing federal law and investigating a variety of criminal activity including terrorism, cybercrime, white collar crimes, public corruption, civil rights violations, and other major crimes.
“When I was Director General of the CIO, I was infuriated by such subversion that I pushed for the creation of an FBI type unit which would work to root out corruption from the judiciary. A few Magistrates and prosecutors were caught but other ways of evading the unit were found and the scourge of corruption continued.”
“It’s possible that even members of our unit were corruptible,” Bonyongwe said.
He said several other institutions were also corrupt during his tenure.
“The notable culprits are the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), the police, the passport office and sectors such as the municipalities who provide services for the public,” Bonyongwe said.
On the police corruption, Bonyongwe said he infuriated the then police boss, Augustine Chihuri after producing a damning report flagging graft within the force.
“The CIO made an investigation and submitted a report to Cabinet on the police corruption requesting some holistic action to be taken. I recall that the Commissioner General of the ZRP was not amused,” the former military man wrote.
“I was polite but forthright saying that the findings of our investigations were non-negotiable and I gave him a copy of the report.”
Chihuri is now in self-imposed exile fearing arrest back in Zimbabwe.
He has been out of the country since the November 2017 military intervention that led to the ouster of Mugabe.
The former Justice Minister said corruption was also evident in ZIMRA leading to the crippling of government.
He said as a result of ZIMRA corruption, the government failed to pay civil servants leading to a strike engineered and executed by individuals under the #ThisFlag and #Tajamuka.
Bonyongwe said the most dangerous corruption in Zimbabwe involved huge companies leading to loss of millions of dollars in potential revenue through illicit tenders, tax evasions, transfer pricing and the smuggling of tobacco and minerals.
“This is the most difficult kind of corruption to fight,” he said.
Bonyongwe served as CIO boss until he was appointed Justice Minister in 2017 by Mugabe.
His tenure abruptly ended with the ouster of Mugabe in November of the same year.
