Opposition politician and lawyer Job Sikhala has claimed that his client, former Foreign Affairs Minister Walter Mzembi is not guilty of the corruption charges he is facing.
Sikhala also said that Mzembi had never stolen anything from the government and that he was actually a victim of political persecution. Addressing the controversy of members of the opposition defending Zanu-PF politicians of corruption, Sikhala claimed that he has a moral obligation to help Mzembi as the two are related. He said that Mzembi was his uncle.
Mzembi was arrested over the weekend together with former minister Samuel Undenge. Speaking to the Daily News, Sikhala said:
I am not representing and protecting somebody who has committed corruption, I will never ever protect corruption. The donations of these TV screens to church organisations and the University of Zimbabwe did not reside in the accrual of any direct financial benefit to Mzembi. Obviously, this is not a case of corruption; it’s a lie for people to believe that Mzembi is facing corruption charges.There is no any benefit which Mzembi accrued from the donation of these television screens to those churches; it was specifically a ministry initiative to promote religious tourism.
…Mzembi is my uncle and I also have a moral obligation to help him when he is in need.
The people of Zimbabwe must understand that he is a brother to my father. There is nothing I don’t know about my uncle, his period as a minister up to now. He is poor, he has absolutely nothing except his two houses, one in Borrowdale West and the other one is in Greendale. He acquired these two houses before even he became a minister; he constructed one through the proceeds from his company called Zunde Ramambo which was dealing in agro-chemicals.
He is the only former ruling party minister who doesn’t own a farm or own a mining company. He never stole anything from the government. People may try to besmirch him but he is cleaner than most people who constitute the current government. They are trying to destroy him because he was belonging to the wrong faction. It is an attempt by the system to de-brand him or destroy him.
More: Daily News
