In a surprising turn of events, Cleopas Chidodo, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe Head of Security at Robert Mugabe International Airport, has issued a public apology to former First Lady Grace Mugabe and Family over remarks he made in the Al Jazeera Gold Mafia documentary.
Chidodo name-dropped the former First lady to undercover Al Jazeera journalists doing a documentary on gold smuggling and money laundering.
In his apology, Chidodo admitted to fabricating falsehoods during one of the episodes that gained significant media attention and expressed deep regret for his actions
“I wish to render my unconditional apologies to Grace Mugabe and the former First Family for the falsehoods I mentioned about them in the said episode. I wish to clarify that I never willingly presented myself to provide any information to Al Jazeera News Network. It was unwise, immature and extremely unfortunate that I resorted to lying, soiling the reputation of Mugabe and her family,” said Chidodo
He further revealed that the individuals who secretly recorded him initially approached him under false pretenses.
“Individuals who secretly recorded me had actually approached me intending to offer my family scholarships to study abroad. It was during this meeting that the subject changed and they revealed to my shock that they actually intended to smuggle minerals out of Zimbabwe,” he claimed
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) last month froze assets belonging to Chidodo and three other people suspected to be part of an alleged gold-smuggling and money-laundering syndicate.
The others are Fredrick Kunaka, general manager of Fidelity Printers and Refiners, the RBZ’s Aurex Jewellery head of finance David Chirozvi and Mehlululi Dube, who is associated with a company called Golden Beryl Limited.
