BUSINESSMAN Wicknell Chivayo has challenged a subpoena requiring him to testify in a case where Zanu PF central committee member Mike Chimombe and his business partner Moses Mpofu are being accused of fraud involving millions of dollars.
The court issued a subpoena on the instance of Chimombe and Mpofu for Chivayo to testify in their application for referral to the Constitutional Court.
Chivayo, who was being represented by his lawyer Silvester Hashiti in court, argued that he had not been told the reasons for the subpoena and he knew nothing about the case.
Chimombe and Mpofu are on trial for fraud involving US$7,7 million in a botched goat supply scheme.
Hashiti successfully argued that his client cannot be ambushed to testify in a case he had no knowledge of.
The lawyer also argued that Chimombe and Mpofu must pay the costs his client incurred in hiring him. However, after the arguments from both parties including Lovemore Madhuku, Ashiel Mugiya and Tapson Dzvetero, they consented to exclude the witness from testifying in the matter.
High Court judge Justice Pisirayi Kwenda ruled in favour of Chivayo after the parties consented. The judge also ordered Chimombe and Mpofu to meet costs incurred by Chivayo in hiring a lawyer.
Justice Kwenda castigated the accused’s lawyers for delaying the completion of the application for referral to the Constitutional Court.
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The judge said the accused should take the court seriously after the parties sought postponement of the matter to Friday.
“In the meantime, parties meet today and share a statement of agreed facts. The application for referral is taking longer than it should,” Justice Kwenda said.
He said they had been delaying proceedings.
“You should take these proceedings seriously. We need to move on,” he said.
The fraud charges, according to the State, emanated from tender documents submitted by the two through a company called Blackdeck (Private) Limited in September 2021. However, Chimombe and Mpofu said chances of them getting a fair trial were slim because their case was about political persecution as they raised questions about the fact that Chivayo remained untouched.
They accused the State and the courts of violating their rights saying they had been denied bail on several occasions despite it being a right.
Chimombe and Mpofu are also accusing the judge of unilaterally granting an application for the matter to be livestreamed without the input or submissions by their lawyers.
They charged that the decision to allow the proceedings to be broadcast live or livestreamed on various media platforms was arrived at without their participation and consent and that of the State.
The duo wants the Constitutional Court to determine whether its continued detention violated its rights as accused persons.
They alleged that they were being punished after they were wrongly accused of leaking the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) tender documents and audios of Chivayo bragging about how he bribed certain government officials.
Prosecutors say the charges emanated from tender documents submitted by the two through a company called Blackdeck (Private) Limited in September 2021.
The Lands ministry invited bids for the supply of 632 001 goats under a scheme worth US$87 757 168 to distribute goats nationally.
Acting on misrepresentations, prosecutors say the ministry paid 30% of the contract in the local currency, an amount of ZWL1,6 billion which was allegedly equivalent to US$7 712 197 in two instalments on April 21, 2022 and June 29, 2022.
The court believes that the ministry was prejudiced of US$7 380 751,85.
Chimombe and Mpofu argued that it was perplexing that Chivayo had not been charged over the Zec scandal yet it was one of the reasons the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission instituted investigations against them.
They said the goat scandal was being used to divert attention from the Zec scandal.
