HARARE – Controversial businessman Frank Buyanga has shopped one of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s sons to human rights and anti-corruption watchdogs, accusing him of corrupting a judge.

The South Africa-based tycoon claims Collins Mnangagwa and one of the president’s nephews, Tongai Mnangagwa, have been interfering with the judiciary to his prejudice in his child custody battle with his ex-girlfriend, Chantelle Muteswa.

The African Medallion Group millionaire makes the claims in two letters delivered to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) this week, asking them to inquire into the alleged conspiracy.

Buyanga said in his fight to gain custody of his five-year-old son, he has become aware of “underhand dealings between Tongai Mnangagwa, Collins Mnangagwa, Dylish Nguwaya and Honourable Justice (Jacob) Manzunzu dating back as early as 2019” when he says he lost a High Court matter “as a result of direct interference from the above mentioned persons.”

“I genuinely believe there is interference in the execution of judicial power from external forces,” Buyanga wrote to ZACC. “What is being done is illegal and almost treasonous… The dispute between Chantelle Muteswa and myself is personal and a family matter which doesn’t require any third party, especially the President’s Office.”

He said ZACC was “duty-bound to pluck off” corrupt judicial officers, while accusing Justice Manzunzu of talking on the phone on over a dozen occasions with members of the Mnangagwa family, and Nguwaya who is reported to be an associate of Muteswa.

Buyanga reported Muteswa to the police last month after she went to their child’s school in Harare and took the boy, which Buyanga said was an abduction. He insisted that he had a court order which granted him temporary custody since July 2019, when Muteswa was evicted from a property she shared with her father.

Buyanga got his son back in a movie-style operation on March 26 after storming a parked vehicle outside a Harare supermarket and snatching the boy, before leaving the country just as Muteswa filed her own police complaint accusing Buyanga of kidnapping the boy.

The property tycoon wrote to the police denying an abduction had taken place, and in a public statement said he was forced to act because police had been instructed by the Mnangagwa family not to recover his son.

He claims Muteswa is romantically involved with Collins Mnangagwa, which she has denied at a news conference.

Buyanga last week wrote to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) complaining against Justice Manzunzu, who had been assigned an urgent chamber application filed by Muteswa. The matter was not heard after Buyanga left the country, and the court’s jurisdiction.

He claims that he has witnesses and other evidence to buttress his allegations of collusion between the judge and members of the Mnangagwa family.

“Collins Mnangagwa, Dylish Nguwaya and others are working as a disruptive criminal cabal,” he charged. “I have several witnesses who at this stage are not able to come forth in fear for their personal lives. I also have the duty to protect the source of my information until such a time it is safe for them to give such information.”

JSC secretary Walter Chikwana said their offices were closed, and he is yet to see Buyanga’s letter.