HARARE – In a significant legal victory, Sybeth Musengezi, a Zanu-PF youth who is challenging the legitimacy of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s coup in 2017, has been acquitted of fraud charges.
The Harare Magistrates Court dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence and inconsistencies in the state’s presentation.
Musengezi, who in 2021 took Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF to the High Court, contesting the legitimacy of the November Central Committee that ousted late President Robert Mugabe and installed Mnangagwa as the country’s leader, was now facing fraud charges as stipulated in Section 136 of the Criminal Law Code, Chapter 9:23.
The Zanu-PF youth member was accused of falsifying his address and Zanu-PF membership, but the court found that the state failed to provide credible evidence to support these claims.
In its ruling, the court stated, “The state have failed to make out even a prima facie case that there was any misrepresentation made by the Accused. Thus, at least one of the essential elements for the crime of fraud is missing.”
The court criticised the state’s reliance on speculative evidence and its failure to consider relevant factors.
“There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the Accused provided the information about his address to Zanu-PF.
“None of the State witnesses were present when the alleged misrepresentation took place and none of them even stated to whom the alleged misrepresentation was made,” the ruling read.
The court also questioned the credibility of the state’s witnesses, noting that none of them could provide firsthand evidence about the collection of information contained in the Zanu-PF cell and branch sheets.
“None of the state witnesses could give first-hand evidence about how any of the information contained in the Zanu PF cell and branch sheets had been collected, as none were present,” the court said.
Furthermore, the court highlighted discrepancies and errors in the Zanu-PF cell and branch sheets, which were collected in a “chaotic and haphazard manner.”
“Even more catastrophically for the State’s case, the Zanu-PF Cell and Branch sheets were proven to be full of errors relating to other members,” the ruling stated.
The investigative officer, Pangani Gwati, conceded that the investigation was improper and inconclusive, and that the evidence presented was unreliable.
“He conceded that there were a lot of discrepancies in the cell sheet/registers presented to him. He conceded that, from the face of it, the evidence presented to court is unreliable, as it clearly shows that the capturing of information on records was suspicious,” the court said.
Ultimately, the Magistrates Court ruled that the state had failed to prove an essential element of the offense, and therefore, Musengezi was acquitted.
“Thus, an essential element of the offence was not proven, even on a prima facie basis, and therefore acquittal must follow,” the court concluded.
