HARARE – The Constitutional Court has struck off its roll, an application by businessman, George Katsimberis who was seeking permanent stay of proceedings in a case in which he stands accused of fraud and perjury.
Katsimberis had approached ConCourt after a High Court judge, Siyabonga Paul Musithu dismissed his application for permanent stay of prosecution.
It was his argument that his constitutional rights were being violated as on one hand, he was appearing in court as an accused person while on the other, as a witness.
The case is based on the same circumstances.
Musithu ruled there was nothing wrong with the parallel prosecutions because they were done by different organs, namely the Special Anti-Corruption Unit and the National Prosecuting Authority.
In a turn of events, the ConCourt bench comprising Justices Anne Gowora, Paddington Garwe and Ben Hlatswayo dismissed his application, ruling that it was filed late.
The judges also said Katsimberis did not seek condonation for late filing making his application fatally defective.
Katsimberis is accused of duping Pokugara Properties (Pvt) Limited of close to US$1 million in a joint venture to build cluster houses in Harare’s upmarket Borrowdale suburb.
Since June 2020, Katsimberis has been appearing as a State witness in a matter in which businessman Ken Sharpe’s aide, Van Blerk, Pokugara Properties, former Harare City Council town clerk Hosea Chisango and the City of Harare are charged with perjury for claiming in court that the land developer built houses on behalf of Pokugara without approved plans.
