Douglas Tapfuma: Mnangagwa’s top aide arrested over car importation scam

ZACC on Tuesday arrested President Mnangagwa’s right hand man and former State House principal director Douglas Tapfuma over allegations of criminal abuse of office involving irregular importation of vehicles.

Tapfuma’s lawyer Valentine Mutatu said his client is detained at Harare’s Malbereign Police Station and will appear in court on Wednesday.

Well-placed sources said Tapfuma was facing several allegations, including abusing Mnangagwa’s name and using letters from the President’s Office to facilitate the importation of vehicles for friends and relatives duty-free.

The same letters were also allegedly being used to evade paying Zimbabwe National Road Administration toll gate fees.

He was also implicated in alleged corrupt deals, including the disappearance of $6,4 million at Hwange Colliery.

Tapfuma was President Mnangagwa’s right-hand man when he returned from exile to seize power following the military coup that toppled former President Robert Mugabe.

He was early last year elevated to director State residencies following the sacking of Innocent Tizora, Mugabe’s last director in charge of presidential properties.

But Tapfuma was to be relegated to a less influential post of the principal director, monitoring and evaluation in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), after allegations of abuse of office exploded into the public domain.