Mzembi acquitted

Yeukai Karengezeka-Chisepo

Court Correspondent

Former Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi has been acquitted by the High Court on charges of criminal abuse of office linked to the donation of four public viewing screens.

Delivering judgment, Justice Benjamin Chikowero ruled that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Mzembi committed the offence.

The court heard that accountability for Government assets rests with the permanent secretary and not the minister.

Justice Chikowero said the prosecution had failed to establish that Mzembi had direct responsibility over the assets in question.

Mzembi had been accused of unlawfully donating the public viewing screens during his tenure as Tourism Minister.

However, the court found that the evidence presented by the State was insufficient to secure a conviction.