Chiyangwa seeks discharge as trial ends

Chiyangwa seeks discharge as trial ends

CHIYANGWA

• Inside Chiyangwa's mansion

• Detective trailed by 'hitmen' after Chiyangwa threat

• Controvercy as Chiyangwa trial opens

• Muponda: 'My arrest was political'

• 18 cars recovered from Chiyangwa

• Chiyangwa threatens journalist with death

• Chiyangwa facing more charges?

• Chiyangwa arrested

• Msika warns Chiyangwa

• Chiyangwa threatens cop in court

• Chiyangwa implicated in ENG scandal

• Zanu PF bids to oust Msika

• ENG directors charged with fraud

By Fortune Mbele

BUSINESSMAN and Chinhoyi Member of Parliament, Phillip Chiyangwa on Thursday made an application for discharge after the State closed its case at the Harare magistrate courts.

The legislator is facing charges of obstructing the course of justice, contempt of court and perjury.

Advocate Chris Andersen, representing Chiyangwa, argued that the State had failed to prove a prima facie case against his client, as the evidence that it had led with its witnesses was manifestly unreliable.

In the first charge of obstructing the course of justice, Andersen said there was no police witness who testified that the accused gave any misdirected information that misled the investigating team.

He said that evidence led by Superintendent Makodza and Inspector Magwenzi did not in any way suggest that Chiyangwa gave false information that misdirected the police.

“The State is only trying to use the back door to build a case against the accused,” said the lawyer.

Dismissing the evidence given by the last State witness, Denias Padzinza, a gardener at the house where the two vehicles in the matter were recovered, Andersen said the witness had only seen the vehicles, a Mercedes Benz Compressor and a BMW but did not know anything about the case. Padzinza also denied statements he is alleged to have made to the police, thus grossly inconveniencing the State’s case which has from the outset not been handled effectively by a prosecution whose collective legal experience pales in comparison to the defence’s.

In the contempt of court charge, Andersen said that the accused only made the threat to Inspector Magwenzi after the officer had made false allegations against him and he was very angry at the time.

But the State, led by Mercy Dube, contended that it had not failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused. She said the accused was asked on January 2 this year to surrender all the property belonging to ENG Asset Management but the accused had indicated that he had parked the two vehicles in question for security reasons, only for them to be recovered from his house on January 12.

In the perjury charge, Dube said the accused had lied when he gave evidence in court as to what his conversation with Gilbert Muponda (a former director of ENG) was all about. The accused had allegedly said the conversation had been just a request for food. But corroboration from Inspector Magwenzi, who was only a metre away, suggests that he heard Muponda ask the accused to release the motor vehicles in question.

Chiyangwa, who is on $1 million bail stemming from his involvement in the ENG Asset Management Company, is accused of failing to disclose assets (which were allegedly in his custody) belonging to the firm’s directors, Nyasha Watyoka and Muponda.

The contempt of court charges arise from allegations that he publicly threatened an investigating officer handling his case in court. He denies the charges saying he was only in custody of the assets to protect them from marauding creditors as he was mediating in the ENG saga as president of the Affirmative Action Group.

He also says that he was very angry when he made threats to Magwenzi for making false allegations against him. Magistrate Judith Tsamba deferred the matter to August 26.
Daily Mirror
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