Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri is under fire after two CIO agents were at the weekend arrested at ousted vice-president Joice Mujuru’s Ruzambo Farm ‘for straying into’ her private property.
The development has seen pro Mnangagwa officials targeting alleging that Chihuri is acting against the wishes of the First Lady Grace Mugabe after her husband launched an intelligence reconnaissance on Mujuru and the agents were said to be on official duty.
Mujuru, fired last December on allegations of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe, has retreated back to her Ruzambo farm in Mashonaland East where she is concentrating on tobacco and cattle ranching.
The ex-second in command to President Mugabe for the past ten years, yesterday confirmed the arrest of the two state spies but quickly referred the matter to the police.
“Yes, we arrested some people for trespassing but after interrogations, we discovered that they are state agents. The matter is being handled by police,” Mujuru said.
However, police spokesperson Charity Charamba said she was not in office to confirm or deny the case before referring questions to her deputy, Paul Nyathi, who also said he had no authority to talk on such issues before referring the issue back to his boss.
The former VP has been under a barrage of attacks from President Mugabe for allegedly plotting to kill him and during his birthday celebrations held last Saturday, the president claimed that Mujuru hired Nigerians n’angas to perform witchcraft acts so that the Zanu PF leader and his wife, Grace, would die.
Mujuru, on Monday, issued a direct response to President Mugabe’s weekend utterances, saying the veteran Zanu PF leader was being misled and wasting time on trivial issues at the expense of national development.
Mujuru’s close allies told The Zimbabwe Mail that the arrest of the suspected state agents raises security issues and exposes the state’s desire to snoop on the former VP, even to the extent of using unorthodox means.
“These are the people who have been misleading the president, feeding him with lies because they are busy snooping on her, even getting wrong information which they are unable to verify,” said a Mujuru close ally.
Mujuru lost her government post after First Lady, Grace Mugabe entered into mainstream politics and led a campaign against her. The First Lady revealed sensitive dealings of the former VP which included corruption and extortionist, among others.
But Mujuru has denied any wrong doing, declaring that she was innocent before challenging the authorities to drag her to court or arraign her before a party disciplinary hearing. The ex-VP was removed from both party and government posts, leaving her an ordinary Zanu PF member. (Agencies/Additional Reporting)