HARARE – Businessman Wicknell Chivhayo and his company Intratek Zimbabwe were acquitted of bribery to win a multi-million-dollar tender on Wednesday.

Chivhayo was acquitted at the close of the prosecution case by Harare magistrate Ngoni Nduna.

Nduna said the National Prosecuting Authority had failed to prove that a US$10,000 payment by Intratrek to the Zimbabwe Power Company board chairman Stanley Kazhanje was a bribe.

“I have no doubt that an accused person, whether or not is entitled to be discharged at the close of the case for the prosecution, is if there is no possibility of a conviction other than if he enters the witness box and incriminates himself,” Nduna said.

“The failure to discharge an accused in those circumstances, if necessary mero motu, is in my view a breach of the rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution and will ordinarily vitiate a conviction based exclusively upon his self-incriminatory evidence.

“Accordingly, it is ordered as follows that the state is found to have failed to establish a prima facie case against both accused persons. They are both found not guilty and acquitted.”

Nduna said Chivhayo participated in a tender process for the US$132 million Gwanda solar power plant and won. Although Kazhanje was the board chairman, the state failed to prove that he influenced the awarding of the tender since he did not share the US$10,000 with other board members.

The magistrate explained: “The starting point after having stated the law is to look at the essential elements of the offence. It is that which the accused person’s claim was not established by the evidence tendered by the state.

“The following are common cause. The two accused persons are into commerce and participated in the tenders for the Gwanda Solar Project. They won the bid. The bid had certain conditions which were supposed to be met before they are advanced any money. Money was paid before the said conditions were fully met. Kazhanje was a board member, its chairperson at the time the payment of US$10,000 was made to his account by the accused persons. Kazhanje had done some consultancy work on the Gwanda Solar Project before becoming the board chair of ZPC.

“It was adequately given in evidence that Kazhanje did some consultancy work for the accused persons. That work could not have been done for free.”