By Paul Katanda

CITIZENS Coalition for Change (CCC) activists Joana Mamombe and Cecilia Chimbiri will now stand trial on May 2 after they bid to be removed from remand flopped.

The two are being charged together with Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) leaders Takudzwa Ngadziore and Tapiwanashe Chiriga on allegations of breaching Covid-19 regulations by holding a press conference outside the Harare Magistrates’ court in 2020.

The State requested that the trial be pushed to May 2 and the application was granted by Magistrate Ruth Moyo.

Prosecutors also promised that if the State is not ready by then, the magistrate should remove the four from remand.

The quartet’s lawyer Alec Muchadehama however, argued that the case has been dragging for close to two years with no progress.

Mamombe and Chimbiri also stood trial before chief magistrate Faith Mushure in a case they are being accused of fabricating falsehoods against the state.

The two alleged they were abducted by suspected state agents at a roadblock on their way from Harare’s Warren Park suburb before they went missing.

Mamombe and Chimbiri said they endured torture for two days before they were dumped in Bindura.

However, the state accuses the two of lying in a bid to soil the government’s reputation.

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officer Venencia Muchenje told court that Mamombe and Chimbiri’s vehicle was never seen at the roadblock at Harare Show Grounds as alleged on May 13 2020.

Muchadehama will cross examine the witness on April 12.