happiness ChikwanhaZvikomborero Parafini
HARARE magistrate Ruth Moyo yesterday ordered the State to summon Hellenic Academy to testify in the maintenance storm between Norton legislator, Temba Mliswa, and his lawyer ex-wife, Cynthia Mugwira.
Magistrate Moyo invoked Section 232 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, which states that the court can at any stage subpoena any witness if his or her evidence appears essential to the just decision of the case.
Mliswa is accused of failing to comply with a maintenance order, which required him to pay fees in full for his minor children.
Mliswa took the witness stand as the star witness in his defence and maintained that he complied with the order and is actually owed by the school.
Led by his lawyer, Allen Masiya, Mliswa told the court that he had never been in contempt of the court order and as claimed by the State.
“I’m also wondering why I’m in court because if you go through the figures, I actually overpaid. “I’ve always complied with the maintenance order.
“I pay school fees in advance at times and I’m always on time. I settled the US dollar invoice I got from the school using the interbank rate of that day.
“This is lawful according to Statutory Instrument 33, which states that we are in a multi-currency system,” he said.
Mliswa further disputed Mugwira’s claims that the school’s US dollar invoices were only to be settled in US dollars.
“Fortunately, the witness is not part of the formulation of the law. We make laws in Parliament and there’s a law, SI 33 which states that we are a multi-currency system, hence bills can be settled in any currency.
“My settlement was lawful. I uphold the supreme law of the land and I cannot be seen doing something outside the law. The school hasn’t insisted on US dollar payments and they haven’t rejected my settlement of the fees in Zim dollars, that’s why they never came to courts.
“I wrote a letter to the school head on March 7 this year and it was a letter of concern with regards to the foreign currency charges and the rates.
“Their rates were inconsistent with the RBZ rates and I asked them to explain the $1 000 to US$1 rate they were using when they increased school fees as they were demanding US$350 or $350 000.
“Their computations were inconsistent with the prevailing official rate,” he said.
Mliswa further told the court that the matter in court was a simple reconciliation case and it was bulldozed into court without proper investigations.
“This case was a simple reconciliation case and the police would have found this out if they investigated to arrest, not to arrest to investigate.
“It’s clear that the matter was bulldozed and the State succumbed to a simple reconciliation and this saddens me because it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“At the vetting stage, this matter wasn’t even supposed to be in court.
“The school doesn’t override the Statutory Instrument and the legislation becomes supreme.
“The school has never written to me to say that I’m in arrears. The school is the authority and it hasn’t complained to me,” he added.
Mliswa said Mugwira dragged their personal issues to court yet he doesn’t even have access to the children in question.
The matter continues on May 22 when the school’s representative is expected to testify in court.
Mandirasa Chigumira prosecuted.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter