Former ZANU PF national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere has sent a message of encouragement to his ally and fellow Generation 40 leader Walter Mzembi who is in detention.
Posting on his X handle Kasukuwere said Mzembi’s persecution will eventually come to an end.
“Hon Mzembi @waltermzembi has been remanded to the 23rd October.
“The state argues they are still reading a non existent docket!! Political persecution 101. Keep strong Walter, it shall be well,” he said.
Mzembi, the 61-year-old former Masvingo South Member of Parliament, was arrested on June 14 when he, made a surprise move, and 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 said to be 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 Conference in 2013.
However, critics say Mzembi is being persecuted for political reasons, saying he is one of President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa’s sworn enemies.
