HARARE – Prosecutor General Kumbirai Hodzi was accused of “bringing ridicule to the office” on Friday following the acquittal of Information Technology Minister Supa Mandiwanzira on corruption charges – after prosecutors failed to contest his High Court appeal for the charges to be thrown out.
Hodzi, who would have come under pressure from political principals over the muddle, issued a contradictory statement on Friday as he vowed to take action against a prosecutor who allegedly neglected to file state papers.
Justice Nicholas Mathonsi acquitted Mandiwanzira on Tuesday on two counts of criminal abuse. The Nyanga South MP was charged with forcing state mobile firm NetOne to award a $5 million tender to a South African audit company without going to tender. The second count related to the appointment of his personal assistant to the board of the Posts and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ).
A magistrate turned down Mandiwanzira’s application for discharge, prompting him to seek relief in the High Court. Prosecutors failed to file their response to his appeal within the stipulated timeframe, leaving Mandiwanzira’s appeal to be heard unopposed.
Hodzi began his statement by saying he and the NPA “were not served with the notice of set-down in the review hearing of Supa Mandiwanzira’s case.”
Then Hodzi went on to add: “I… have noted with dismay that the state did not file a respone to the accused person’s application for review. The prosecutor representing the state in this matter did not file a response within the stipulated timeframe. He was duly instructed to file his response in time, but he did not do so.”
He said he had ordered a thorough investigation into the conduct of the prosecutor. He said the prosecutor in the case had been suspended, while accusing him of “gross misconduct” for “flouting procedures and due process.”
Legal commentator Alex Magaisa said Hodzi must take the blame, while accusing him of “doing confession and avoidance in reverse.”
Magaisa added: “He begins by denying that he or the NPA were served the application for review in Mandiwanzira’s case but then goes on to berate a prosecutor for not responding to it. The prosecutor works for the NPA.
“How can the PG say the NPA was not served papers but at the same time accuse a prosecutor, who is employed by the NPA, of failing to respond to the notice on time? The long and short of it is that the State was served papers and someone messed up, whatever the reason.
“This is obviously a damage limitation exercise, designed for the principal, because as they all know the application is not made or won in the court of public opinion. It is made in a court of law. This fire-fighting exercise only brings ridicule to the office.”
Hodzi said the state would be appealing Mandiwanzira’s acquittal as the judge, despite the matter being unopposed, had elected to decide it on the merits.
