Mupfumira's Latest Freedom Bid Fails At The Supreme Court
Former Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, Prisca Mupfumira’s freedom bid hit a snag after the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed her appeal against the refusal of bail in her corruption case by the Magistrates Court in August.
Mupfumira was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) in July and has been in remand prison since then awaiting trial.
She was subsequently dismissed from her role as a minister by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
In dismissing Mupfumira’s appeal, Justice Anne-Marie Gowora said that the appeal filed by Mupfumira to the High Court having been made in terms of subsection 116 and 117 was irregular. She said:
The appellant was not appearing before the High Court in proceedings under the Act. She appeared before the Acting Chief Magistrate on initial remand and it is to that court that an application under section 117 should have been made and determined. No such application was made or determined.
It becomes evident therefore that reliance on section 117 by the appellant for the determination of an appeal under rule 6 was incorrect. The proceedings before the High Court were therefore irregular.
