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Zimbabwe police arrest, charge Attorney General
Reuters
November 08, 2007

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0849335420071108

Harare - Zimbabwe's attorney general faces corruption charges after being briefly detained over allegations he promised to help a fugitive banker who had fled the southern African nation avoid arrest, police said on Thursday. Attorney General Sobusa Gula-Ndebele was arrested on Tuesday and then released after a statement was recorded, chief police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said. "So far we don't know when he will appear in court, but we have finished everything, including the investigations, which meant taking statements from witnesses," Bvudzijena told Reuters. Gula-Ndebele, who is charged with corrupt conduct, could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and face a heavy fine if convicted. Bvudzijena said Gula-Ndebele had met James Mushore, the former director of banking group NMBZ Holdings, in September and promised him he would not be arrested if he returned to Zimbabwe.

Mushore fled to Britain in 2004 at the height of a Zimbabwean banking crisis that saw several finance houses shut down by the country's central bank. He was arrested last month upon his return to Zimbabwe. But some have suggested the charges may be politically motivated. Local papers earlier reported Gula-Ndebele had clashed with his boss, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa over control of the attorney general's department, which oversees the operations of the country's prosecutors. Both men have refused to comment on the issue. President Robert Mugabe's government has previously said it would vigorously tackle graft and in 2006 appointed members of an anti-corruption commission but analysts say the under-resourced commission lacked bite and is barely functional. Critics say anti-corruption moves have tended to target officials from the private sector, especially bankers, while some influential politicians have sought to use corruption charges to target opponents. "The concern still remains that corruption charges are used to settle political scores although it is difficult to say in this particular case," John Makumbe, a political analyst and Mugabe critic said.

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