THE trial of former Zesa Holdings bosses, who are facing criminal abuse of office charges, is set to continue after a Harare regional magistrate dismissed an application for exception by one of the suspects.
The company’s former group chief executive Joshua Chifamba, pictured, the firm’s secretary Saidi Sangula and legal officer Garikayi Churu, are accused of engaging a law firm, Chihambakwe, Mutizwa and Partners, to carry out debt collection services for the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) without board resolution.
Sangula had applied for exception, but magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti-Guwuriro dismissed the request after ruling that the issues raised could be resolved at trial, which is set to continue on November 16.
Sangula, through his lawyer Sylvester Hashiti, had argued in the application for exception that the charges against him did not disclose an offence and that he was not a public officer.
“The accused’s employer is not the ‘State, a statutory body or a local authority’ as envisaged by Section 169 of the Criminal law …
“For the accused to incur criminal liability under Section 174(1) (a) of the Criminal Law … he ought to be or have occupied public office,” Hashiti argued.
In his defence, Chifamba also said that he was not a public officer, arguing that Zesa Holdings was not a public entity.
“The first accused person challenges the State to prove that he is a public officer by operation of law.
“In the circumstances, it is legally incompetent for the accused to be prosecuted as a public officer when he is not a public officer in terms of the Zimbabwean criminal law as codified. These charges are thus a nullity,” his lawyer Admire Rubaya argued.
He also denied engaging Chihambakwe, Mutizwa and Partners in his personal capacity or in connivance with any of his co-accused.
He further argued that the criminal charges were as a result of some “malicious and connected persons” who were taking advantage of their current positions.
“The accused person further asserts that these are clearly malicious, frivolous and vexatious allegations being peddled by those who occupy certain positions … who maliciously caused his arrest without any shred of evidence to justify his arrest and/or prosecution simply because his detractors has whipped them into his line probably by virtue of name dropping,” he said.