Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) editors, Kholwani Nyathi and Faith Zaba, have challenged their prosecution on charges of allegedly insulting President Emmerson Mnangagwa, arguing that the state has no authority to proceed without a certificate from the Attorney-General (AG).
Nyathi is the editor-in-chief of AMH, and Zaba is the editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, the leading business weekly.
The two, represented by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights lawyer Nontokozo Dube-Tachiona, appeared before Harare magistrate Kudzai Mtombeni yesterday.
Their lawyer asked the court to order the state to produce the required certificate or withdraw the charges against Zaba and AMH in terms of the law and Section 34 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
Dube-Tachiona argued that the prosecution had no legal basis without the Attorney-General’s authority, stating that the continued prosecution was illegal.
Section 34 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act) deals with the Attorney-General to authorise prosecutions under Chapter III, which covers various crimes against the state and public order, such as terrorism, sedition, and undermining the authority of the President.
This means that for specific offences listed under Chapter III, the Attorney-General’s office must give formal approval before any prosecution can proceed.
“Section 34 of the Code is clear. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) can only initiate prosecutions of persons accused of Chapter III crimes with the authority of the AG,” Dube-Tachiona stated.
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“In this case no such authority was sought and none was given. My clients have appeared before this court three times prior to this date, and I had advised the prosecutors that this case cannot proceed if the prosecution was not authorised to initiate the prosecutions without the AG's authority.
“In the absence of that authority, which clearly the NPA doesn’t have, the accused persons must be unconditionally released.
“This court cannot exercise discretion to allow continuation of the prosecutions when an Act of Parliament prohibits the prosecutions.
“If they were given authority, he (the prosecutor) must produce proof of such since he says the matter is ready for trial,” she further argued.
The state led by Lawrence Gangarahwe, however, asked the court for more time to respond to the defence application, leading Magistrate Mtombeni to postpone the matter to September 8 for determination.
Zaba and Nyathi, representing AMH, are accused of undermining the authority of or insulting the President through the Independent’s satirical “Muckraker” column, which in its June 27–July 3, 2025 edition carried an article titled When you become a mafia state.
The column criticised Zimbabwe’s leadership during its rotational chairmanship of the Southern African Development Community, pointing out Zimbabwe’s alleged involvement in pointing out Zimbabwe’s alleged involvement in elections in Mozambique, Botswana, and Namibia.
It further alleged that Zimbabwe had become a “mafia state” run by a government “obsessed with clinging to power through political chicanery”.
The state claims the article, which was accompanied by a photograph of Mnangagwa and Mozambican President Daniel Chapo, was “false in material particulars” and intended to incite hostility against the President.
Zaba was arrested on July 1 and freed on US$200 bail on July 4. She had spent three nights in detention and was initially delayed from release due to a power outage that prevented the magistrate from typing his ruling.
As part of her bail conditions, Zaba had to surrender her passport, reside at her listed address, not to interfere with investigations, and report weekly at Criminal Investigation Department Law and Order Harare Central Police Station.
In granting her bail, Harare Magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe said bail was a constitutional right. Through their lawyer, Zaba and Nyathi previously argued that the facts presented by the state do not constitute a criminal offence.
They said the arrests were unlawful, rooted in opinion and criticism rather than criminal conduct.
“In a democracy, one cannot be arrested merely for expressing an opinion where freedoms of the media and expression are guaranteed,” the defence submitted, adding that remanding the editors restricted AMH’s mandate to inform the public and violated the principles of democracy.
They further noted that the article’s use of the word “we” was plural and not directed personally at the President, yet the state had sought to criminalise it as an insult.
The editors challenged their placement on remand, insisting that the charges amounted to harassment of independent journalism.
