HARARE – Former Foreign Affairs Minister Walter Mzembi has been found not guilty of criminal abuse of office after a High Court judge ruled the state had fatally undermined its own case by failing to call its most critical witness.
Justice Benjamin Chikowero delivered the verdict at the Harare High Court on Wednesday, acquitting Mzembi on the charge that he had unlawfully donated public viewing screens that belonged to the ministry of tourism while he served as its minister.
Chikowero found that two state witnesses – Zvinechimwe Churu and Thokozile Chitepo – were actually fair witnesses precisely because they declined to speak to matters outside their knowledge, including whether Mzembi had personally authorised the donation of the screens. Neither had been permanent secretary at the relevant time and neither had directly interacted with Mzembi.
“In short, the two were not relevant witnesses to assist in the state’s case. The state’s failure to call other witnesses was fatal to its case,” Chikowero said.
The judge said documentary exhibits, including letters, showed it was the ministry – not Mzembi personally – that had donated the television sets.
The judge noted that Margaret Sangarwe, who served as permanent secretary, had issued a memorandum proposing the allocation of 40 television sets to rural areas across different provinces and to churches at the centre of the controversy – yet the state never produced her in court.
“The state did not produce Sangarwe for her to explain her memorandum. No reasons were given for her absence in court. Sangarwe would have been a material witness to explain if the accused is the one who authorised the donation. The state chose not to call her at its own peril,” Chikowero said.
The court heard that an asset check conducted by former permanent secretary Florence Nhekairo found the screens were still recorded on the ministry’s inventory sheets as state property – evidence Chikowero said dovetailed with Chitepo’s testimony.
Richford Lovemore Nyamakura, the finance director in the ministry, also testified that it was essential for the state to have called the permanent secretary, and his evidence did not assist the prosecution.
Chikowero further criticised investigating officer Eric Chacha, saying he had not done his work properly. Evidence from Admire Mango, a senior overseer with PHD Ministries, also failed to incriminate Mzembi, the judge found.
Chikowero added that Mzembi himself had made an error in claiming there had been a donation when, on the evidence, no donation had in fact taken place – but that finding worked against the state rather than for it.
The judge said the only essential element of the crime which the state managed to prove was that Mzembi was a public officer.
“It was not his duty to account for government property, therefore the accused is found not guilty and acquitted,” Chikowero said.
Mzembi was arrested in 2008, months after the ouster of Robert Mugabe’s government in a military coup. He insisted that the charges were politically motivated.
The 62-year-old left the country the same year to seek treatment in South Africa and did not return until June last year when he was arrested on outstanding arrest warrants and repeatedly denied bail.
Bail was only granted on May 4 as Chikowero was already writing his judgement.
Source: ZimLive
