Yes, you heard it here first, it’s very unlikely Mrs Priscah Mupfumira, the former Minister of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, is not going to jail ever again. We are certain she will never be jailed, not in the near future with the current government in power.

We are not prophets or psychics we just know. Her corruption case which is before the courts has taken a very familiar turn. Just like all court cases involving bigwigs as they are known, when a bigwig gets bail set it almost always means they are walking. Mrs Mupfumira is now out on bail, bail which was set at $5 000 RTGS for a case involving hundreds of millions of dollars.

Similar cases come to mind

This is why we are so certain, similar cases have gone through similar cycles.

First there are screaming headlines in state media,
followed by revelations of shocking corruption,
bail is denied and the accused is hounded left right and centre
When public interest wanes, the accused is granted bail.
The public prosecutor’s office then goes on to put up a lacklustre case, you need practice to be that underwhelming, the case goes into limbo while the accused is free.

Examples where this has happened in recent times include:

The Walter Mzembi case
Wicknell Chivayo cases
Walter Chidhakwa case
Frank Gudyanga case
Even Mr Samuel Undenge who was convicted and jailed is still among the people living freely
The Mphoko case against the former VP, that never even went anywhere

None of these people are in jail. If any of these guys were members of the opposition and or small fish like us common men they would be rotting in prison.

You cannot even tell Hon Mupfumira was fired

Back when the story was at the top of news cycles the Herald reported Mrs Mupfumira was fired from her position as Minister of Tourism. Well, you wouldn’t know it. The Parliament still lists her as Minister of the Minister of tourism on its website. So do a host of other information sites.

If they really didn’t want her in government and tainting their legacy she would have been excised like cancer. There would be no traces of her anyway. The Chinese and Russians have set the playbook on this one. If they want you gone they will remove you anywhere and everywhere including official portraits. Look at what they did to Trotsky.

In addition to her being granted bail, there has been an increase in voices coming to her defence. The latest unnamed voice blames the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission for acting rashly:

If ZACC does not know that Mupfumira had Cabinet authority allowing her ministry to get that loan and, more than that, the loan was repaid four years ago resulting in no prejudice to NSSA or pensioners, it begs the question if any investigation was conducted.
You keep hearing that she (Mupfumira) stole US$95 million but when you look at the specifics, there is no indication that she took any money; instead, the allegation is that she encouraged bad investments, a point that is equally disputed.

The story goes that she acted within her authority and paid back the money so she is not guilty. Usually such nonsense draws sharp rebuttals from the Herald which never shies away from a fight when it comes to defending the government’s actions. The fact that it drew not even a muted response tells it all.

It was all about penance, Mrs Mupfumira paid, now she is out of the purgatory. So if you think Mrs Mupfumira is going to jail, you are mistaken.