"I was not protected by the law!" Mukoko charge - Mutasa's "sworn to secrecy" is a feeble defence. By Wilbert Mukori

Jestina Mukoko reminded the people of Zimbabwe not to be so easily fooled by ZPF leaders like Didymus Mutasa forgetting who these individual really are. She was speaking at the commemorative service of Itai Dzamara who was abducted by State operatives a year ago and has never been seen again.

Jestina was abducted in December 2008 by State operatives and Didymus Mutasa refused to name the people responsible.

“When my lawyer wanted to know the identities of the people who did this (tortured me), minister Mutasa issued a ministerial certificate which said those people were not going to be identified because they were on State business,” Jestina told the audience.

“The new face does not change anything. It does not rub that I was abducted. I was tortured and I was not protected by the law and the people who did this to me have had their identities protected.

“It does not change anything that he (Mutasa) is no longer with Zanu PF and he is now with People First. He is still Didymus Mutasa,” Mukoko charged.

Indeed the very fact that people like Mutasa, Mujuru and all the other form Zanu PF leaders are now seeking to be elected back into high public office regardless of their tarnished past speaks volumes; they have clearly failed to comprehend the seriousness of their crimes against the people of Zimbabwe.

Asking Mujuru, Mutasa and the other ZPF leaders is like asking to the Nazi criminals at the end of the Second World War; the latter admitted doing nothing even when they took part in the mass murder of six million Jews, they were “following orders”.  Mujuru and her ZPF friends are hiding behind the oath of office and their fear of being prosecuted under the Official Secret Act.

“I had little choice but to withhold the (Mukoko) file because I was sworn to secrecy,” Mutasa told the Daily News.

The regime has rigged elections and murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans, amounts some of its many serious crimes; it is hard to see how anyone can ever justify saying and doing nothing to stop the slaughter of so many innocent people because they are taken an oath of secrecy. Did the oath not include swearing to uphold the country’s constitution and defend its interests and treasures – what greater interests and treasures are there for a nation than the live of its citizens!

One of these fine days the country will conducted a thorough investigation of the country’s past elections and establish once and once for all that Mugabe and Zanu PF rigged elections. The investigation will also establish beyond doubt that officials like Mutasa and Mujuru knew the regime had rigged the elections and therefore was illegitimate.

Leaders like Mutasa and Mujuru will then be asked to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in a court of law. They will they be asked again to tell us what really happened during their years in Zanu PF.

The Official Secrets Act, like every other law, Mr Mutasa, was enacted to promote and protect national interests and not to protect those undermining public good and destroying the nation for their selfish gain. Investigating the excesses and blatant abuse of the state laws and institution by Mugabe and his Zanu PF regime is an important step in the process of restoring this country to legitimacy and rule of law.

“Rinemanyanga hariputirwi!” so goes the Shona adage! (There is no hiding the truth; it will be uncovered sooner or later!) Zanu PF’s incompetent, corrupt and murderous past cannot be hidden not even under the cover of the Official Secrets Act!