HARARE: Former Public Service Minister Prisca Mupfumira is a free woman after the last of her corruption cases collapsed in court on Thursday. The state’s failure to prosecute her for nearly five years, citing various reasons, has finally seen her walk free.
Mupfumira was accused of theft of public funds through flying some government employees to her daughter’s wedding in South Africa. She was jointly charged with her former secretary Ngoni Masoka.
The state’s case, which spanned almost five years, fell apart due to a series of unfortunate events, according to prosecutors. They blamed Covid-19, the death of a key witness, and the promotion of the trial magistrate for the bungled case.
Harare magistrate, Marewanazvo Gofa, removed Mupfumira from remand, bringing to an end all criminal cases against the Zanu PF top official. The magistrate stated that the two accused had been on remand since 2019 and that there had been no progress since last year when the matter was ordered to commence.
“The two cannot be prejudiced because the magistrate was elevated to be a judge and that it is in the interest of justice to remove them from remand,” said the magistrate.
Mupfumira and Masoka were accused of misappropriating a US$90,000 NSSA loan, allegedly used to fly public service ministry employees to her daughter’s wedding in South Africa. The state failed to put her to a fresh trial after the matter came to a halt following the elevation of the then chief magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi to become a judge of the High Court.
Mupfumira and Masoka were facing allegations of abuse of duty as public officers and corruptly concealing a transaction involving a US$90,000 loan application from NSSA ostensibly to purchase a ministerial vehicle and not disclosing it to the office of the President and Cabinet as should be done.
She was also accused of instructing a finance director in her ministry to facilitate purchase of some air tickets for her aides to attend her daughter’s wedding as well as facilitating the payment of accommodation and transport which prejudiced the ministry of US$10,215 and ZAR113,539.
Mupfumira’s lawyer, Admire Rubaya, argued that the state had been given ample time to proceed with the case and that the application to remove her from remand came after several petitions and notices against the state. He highlighted the inordinate delays by the state which had kept Mupfumira on remand for 1,796 days without trial following her arrest.
Rubaya argued that this violated his client’s right to be heard within a reasonable time and limited her movement as there were reporting conditions attached to her bail.
“The application is motivated by the fact that the accused person has been prejudiced for a long period of time by the state through its failure to have this matter set down for trial,” the application read.
The lawyer also said the matter has prejudiced Mupfumira from properly executing her parliamentary duties and subjecting her to constant insults in society.
“The prejudice has also affected her to the extent that her name remains tarnished in the social domain and her right to be heard within a reasonable time has been outrightly infringed,” Rubaya said.
The state attributed the delay to the elevation of the trial magistrate to be a judge as well as Covid-19 which they say affected court processes between the period 2020-2021 due to lockdowns. The state also said one witness in the case died during the period, further jeopardising its case.
