HARARE – The wife of a former army chief due to testify before the Kgalema Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry on Monday has reported her husband missing.
Colonel Elliot Piki (Rtd) “registered his intention to testify before the Motlanthe Commission on Thursday, November 22, 2018, and today, around 4:30PM, was allegedly abducted,” family friend, Jealousy Mawarire, said on Sunday.
Piki was one of the commanders during Zimbabwe’s military adventure in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1999, and it is thought his testimony could throw a light on that operation which ended with Zimbabwe’s military and then Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, now the President, accused of looting diamonds.
Motlanthe’s commission, appointed by Mnangagwa, is investigating the August 12 post-election killing of six people during opposition protests in Harare.
Motlanthe is a former South African President, and the commission comprises three locals and four foreigners.
Piki’s wife reported him missing at Waterfalls Police Station in Harare, where a missing person docket has been opened.
Piki was disqualified in the Zanu PF primaries for the Harare South constituency ahead of elections on July 30, it is believed to clear the way for Mnangagwa’s son Tongai.
He later ran as an independent, but Tongai was the eventual winner with 24,503 votes after the MDC fielded two candidates – Shadreck Mashayamombe (21,363) and Tichaona Saurombe (7,868) who divided the vote and, in the process, handed Zanu PF the constituency.
