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Corporation chief executive Dominic Mubaiwa cannot begin until the prosecution complies with the law, the High Court ruled yesterday.
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu accepted an objection by defence lawyers Advocate Lewis Uriri and Mr George Chikumbirike against the substitution of indictment papers without the leave of the court.
The judge ruled that the prosecution had adopted the wrong procedure.
Mubaiwa and Kurotwi were indicted for trial on January 10 this year together with three other ZMDC officials before the director of public prosecutions Mrs Florence Ziyambi decided to drop charges against the trio.
She, however, replaced the old indictment papers with new ones that excluded the three names without seeking authority from the court.
The three — Gloria Mawarire, Mark Tsomondo and Tichaona Muhonde — according to the new papers are now prosecution witnesses.
The defence team challenged Mrs Ziyambi’s attempt to read out new or amended charges to Mubaiwa and Kurotwi without any reindictment or a court application.
Justice Bhunu said the State should make a choice on how it intends to proceed among two lawful options.
“In the final analysis, the ball is squarely in the prosecutor’s court. She (Mrs Ziyambi) must decide what she wants to do. If she wants to amend the charge, she must apply to the court and the court will make a determination.
“If she wants to prefer new charges against the accused persons, then she must first withdraw the original charge before plea. For the foregoing reasons, I consider it inappropriate and prejudicial that the accused must plead to the amended or substituted charge at this stage. The accused persons’ objection is accordingly sustained,” Justice Bhunu ruled.
Kurotwi and Mubaiwa are being accused of fraudulently causing the Government to enter into a diamond mining partnership with Core Mining. — CR.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter