Investigate Dokora car theft

After a tip-off and our own investigations, we learnt that Dokora had allocated the vehicle to his Rushinga constituency, where it was robbed while in the custody of a private driver. The vehicle was subsequently burnt by the robbers and towed to Harare, where it is now being kept.

Interestingly, a story in the government –controlled media on Monday claimed that the car belonged to Dokora. We suspect that someone out there is trying to cover up for corruption.

The story ran under the headline “Minister’s car burnt to a shell” and further stated that the robbers had been arrested at a hideout in Epworth.

Something is wrong with this story. To start with, the car was NOT burnt to a shell. We had the opportunity to see it and what can be confirmed is that only the engine house was affected by fire. If, then, the car has now been burnt to a shell, that must have happened after it was taken to the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) offices in Mount Pleasant, where it was being kept.

If the car belonged to Dokora, why was it towed to the Zimsec premises in Harare after the accident? One would have expected it to be taken to his home or back to Rushinga, but that was not the case. In any case, it would still be abuse of office for Dokora to use premises that are controlled by his ministry to dump his personal property.

We therefore urge the police to handle this matter with an open mind and a professional attitude. We would also like the donors to make their own independent audit of the fleet that they surrendered to the ministry for the SIG project.