High Court Dismisses Prisca Mupfumira's Application
The High Court has dismissed an appeal by former Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira challenging the Magistrates Court’s decision to dismiss her application for discharge in a criminal abuse of office case.
Mupfumira is being accused of unlawfully directing National Social Security Authority (NSSA) management to enter into a housing project with a company called Drawcard Enterprises (Private) Limited (Drawcard) without following the proper procedures.
Her application for discharge was recently dismissed by Harare magistrate Ngoni Nduna, leading her to appeal at the High Court.
However, High Court judges justices Benjamin Chikowero and Rodgers Manyangadze, dismissed her application. Part of the ruling, seen by NewsDay, reads:
We reiterate that we have studied the record of the proceedings unfolding before the first respondent.
We do not see anything or any basis to descend in that arena… The case for the prosecution was clear. It was simple.
The record of proceedings discloses the applicant’s pivotal involvement in the favourable positioning of Drawcard right from the Metbank Building Meeting, the Anesu Building Meeting and the applicant’s unrelenting pressure upon Chihota and Mukondomi to hurriedly conclude the contract.
All in all, the nine grounds for review are, at the end of the day, a grouping of grounds of appeal and argument to motivate such grounds. They miss the point.
Mupfumira recently won a ZANU PF ticket to defend her Makonde senatorial seat in elections set to be held later this year.
Mupfumira was the first cabinet minister to be sacked by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who assumed office in 2017 following the military coup that ousted the late former president Robert Mugabe.
Her sacking came after the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) had arrested and charged her for diverting NSSA funds to finance her political campaigns and fund a relative’s lavish wedding.
Mupfumira was also expelled from the Politburo.
However, she made a surprise comeback into the ZANU PF Central Committee via the December 2022 elections.
During her criminal abuse of office trial for alleged embezzlement of funds, Mupfumira claimed she could not stand trial anymore as she was suffering from mental illness.
More: Pindula News
