Online Reporter
Court Correspondent
Former Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Reuben Marumahoko, has been acquitted on allegations of defrauding Agricultural Rural Development Authority of US$37 950 worth of farming inputs.
Marumahoko was acquitted by the Chinhoyi Magistrates Court which ruled there was no evidence to prove he committed an act of fraud.
He was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) in November 2024 on allegations he applied for inputs under the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority commercial farmers’ joint venture programme claiming to have the capacity to plant 200 hectares of maize crop on irrigated land.
It was alleged that as a result of the misrepresentation, the former minister was given 2.5 tonnes of maize seed, 1 300 bags of Compound D fertiliser and chemicals.
It was further alleged that after receiving the inputs, Marumahoko, who also served as Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister, planted 46 hectares of maize crop instead of 200 and disposed of the remaining inputs, resulting in ARDA suffering prejudice of US$37 950.
But magistrate Solomon Jenya ruled that there was no proof that Marumahoko had committed fraud.
He has argued in his defence that he did not misrepresent ARDA telling the court that his irrigation equipment was vandalized resulting in him planting 46 hectares of maize. The former minister also told the court that the season was affected by drought resulting in him failing to reach expectations.
In passing judgement, the court defined elements for fraud in accordance to section 136 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act which reads: “One must make a representation which is false intentionally, intending to deceive another person, intending another person to act on the misrepresentation to his prejudice, and the misrepresentation must cause actual or potential prejudice.”
