Ex-VP Mphoko makes dramatic escape
FORMER Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko yesterday agreed to surrender himself to Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) officers at a Bulawayo police station, but beat a hasty retreat and sped off movie-style, leaving the investigating officers shell-shocked.
In a dramatic incident that became the talk of the day in Bulawayo, Mphoko appeared to have second thoughts and fled.
He is being accused of criminal abuse of office after he unlawfully instructed junior police officers to release from cells, former Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) acting chief executive Moses Juma.
Juma was being charged with criminal abuse of office.
Mphoko allegedly committed the offence when he was still Vice President of Zimbabwe.
Mphoko, who reportedly resisted arrest on Saturday at his home, yesterday agreed to meet ZACC officers at a police station in Bulawayo.
His lawyers had gone to ZACC offices to submit his statement, but the investigators demanded his appearance before them.
That is when they agreed to meet at a neutral venue, being a police station in Bulawayo.
Yesterday afternoon, Mphoko indicated that he was now on his way to the police station for recording of his warned and cautioned statement.
Upon arrival at the station, Mphoko drove off at high speed.
Zacc spokesperson Commissioner John Makamure confirmed the latest developments saying the former VP was now a fugitive from justice.
“He is on the run because when our officers went to meet him at the police station to record warned and cautioned statements, he drove off at a high speed.
“As for us he is now a fugitive of justice. Our officers are, however, still on the ground looking for him,” he said.
By last night, Mphoko’s whereabouts were still not known.