Whistleblower William Gerald Mutumanje (Acie Lumuba) has reacted to speculations that he has been arrested over his statements about corruption and looting at Reserve Bank.
On Tuesday, Lumumba in the true spirit of November 2017 coup said, “Me and my family are safe, they are just targeting criminals around me.”
Was Acie Lumumba arrested?
There were unconfirmed reports yesterday that Acie Lumumba was arrested. The reports said the arrest was done by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
However in the evening the Zimbabwe Republic Police and ZACC denied having interacted with Lumumba casting doubt on the alleged arrest.
On Monday, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission commissioner in charge of investigations, Goodson Nguni, told the media the graft body was itching to probe Mutumanje.
“We are waiting for someone to write a letter with the allegations against Lumumba and after that we will ask the police to arrest him,” he said.
A government source who spoke to Zwnews.com on condition that his name is not published told Charles Mabhena, our Bulawayo correspondent, that Lumumba is being used by rival factions in higher ranks of Zanu PF and the military who are fighting to control key government institutions like the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe(RBZ) and lucrative fuel deals financed by RBZ.
Mutumanje was last month briefly and irregularly appointed as the head of a communications task force in the Finance Ministry.
Minister Mthuli Ncube was later pressured to sack him after he made staggering allegations on Facebook, on supposed illegal foreign currency dealings at the central bank – claims which shook Zanu-PF and the government to their core.
Mutumanje did not go alone, he went down with four senior RBZ officials who got suspended; and fuel tycoon and VP Chiwenga’s ally Mr Kuda Tagwirei who was named and shamed as being at the centre of illegal foreign currency dealings.