admin
Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
MDC-T deputy national chairman Morgan Komichi who is facing allegations of contravening the country’s electoral laws has been denied bail for the third time. Komichi, who was denied bail by the High Court a fortnight ago, made a fresh bail application at the Harare magistrates’ courts last week. His lawyer Mr Charles Kwaramba said he was applying for bail on changed circumstances on the basis that Komichi was denied bail because the country was still to hold its elections, hence the magistrate ruled that he could interfere with the process. He said the country had since held its elections, hence the circumstances had changed. In denying him bail yesterday, Harare magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma said there were no changed circumstances to warrant Komichi to be released on bail.
She said the country was still in the electoral period since petitions were still pending before the courts.
“The issue of who won the elections is still pending before the Constitutional Court so it is not correct to say elections have come and gone. The Constitutional Court may either uphold or nullify the elections and in the event of the latter, it means the elections may be conducted again.
“The State’s fears of abscondment are well founded since the accused is facing a serious charge which might induce him to abscond. By providing the accused with a trial date, the State shows that it has a strong case against the accused person. Therefore there are no changed circumstances to warrant the accused to be released on bail,” she said.
Ms Tshuma remanded the matter to August 27 for trial. Mr Michael Mugabe and Mr Edmore Nyazamba who represented the State had opposed the application on the basis that there were no changed circumstances in the matter at all.
Komichi was arrested on July 28 on allegations of misrepresenting to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission that he had “picked up” from a dust bin, a sealed tamper-proof envelope with a special vote ballot paper at a Harare hotel.
He is also accused of marking the ballot papers in favour of his party since investigations showed that the ballot papers were not marked by the voter and could not have been marked at the polling station as they did not bear the secret mark of the presiding officer of the polling station.
He allegedly approached Zec deputy director of public relations Mr Tendai Pamire and told him he had an issue to raise with the electoral body’s chairperson Justice Rita Makarau who agreed to meet him. In the meeting, Komichi alleged that an unnamed person informed him that they had picked up an envelope from a dustbin at the HICC where the special vote was being processed.
Komichi further alleged that he had opened the envelope out of curiosity and discovered that there were ballot papers.
Based on the envelope, Komichi alleged that Zec was destroying the ballots which were cast by the police in favour of MDC-T. The ballot in question belonged to Constable Mugove Chiginya whom the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said went to a Mt Pleasant polling station to vote during the special vote, but could not do so because his ballots were not at the centre.
Online Reporter