Online Reporter
Fidelis Munyoro
Business partners Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe stand at the epicentre of a high-stakes courtroom battle , their futures hanging in the balance as the High Court delivers a verdict that will ripple through the nation.
Accused of orchestrating a brazen scam against the Government’s flagship Presidential Goats initiative, the tension in the courtroom is palpable.
Justice Kwenda has started reading his judgment in packed courtroom.
The trial, which began in earnest this February after months of relentless legal wrangling and procedural delays starting last October, has kept the nation on edge.
Assisted by seasoned assessors Ms Margaret Chitsiga and Mr Temba Kuwanda, Justice Kwenda has been meticulously sifting through mountains of evidence since last week.
Today, they will decide: is this a case of cold, hard fraud, or merely a web of suspicions spun by the prosecution?
At the heart of this explosive case lies an $87 million tender linked to the Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme — a mammoth project designed to uplift rural communities by providing much-needed livestock to boost food security and livelihoods.
Prosecutors allege that Mpofu and Chimombe, operating through their company Blackdeck Pvt Ltd, cunningly rigged the tender process.
They stand accused of submitting forged ZIMRA and NSSA certificates, crafting a façade of legitimacy to snatch the contract and siphon public funds.
State Advocate Whisper Mabhaudi delivered a searing closing submission last week, painting a vivid picture of collusion and deception.
He accused the duo of masterminding a calculated scheme to defraud the Government, wielding Blackdeck as their fraudulent instrument.
But the defence mounted a fierce counter argument, dismissing the prosecution’s evidence as flimsy and conjectural.
Advocate Tapson Dzvetero, defending Mpofu, shot down the notion of direct implication, while Professor Lovemore Madhuku, Chimombe’s counsel, methodically tore apart the legal foundation of the fraud charges, insisting the State failed to prove key elements under the Criminal Law.
As the courtroom awaits the judge’s ruling, the nation watches, breath held, eager to know the outcome.
