Two brothers wrongfully convicted of extortion by a Harare magistrate and imprisoned for a year have been freed by the High Court after it determined insufficient evidence to support the guilty verdict.
On January 5, 2024, Magistrate Munashe Chibanda sentenced Kenneth and Emmanuel Chitenderu to a 24-month prison term. However, 12 months of this sentence were suspended on condition of good behavior, leaving an effective prison term of 12 months.
This follows after the accused were brought before the Harare Magistrates’ Court on charges of extortion, a crime defined in Section 14 of the Criminal Code and Reform Act.
The allegations state that between December 2016 and June 2017, the accused unlawfully demanded a sum of US$605. This demand was accompanied by threats of harm to the victim’s family, arrest, persecution, and public exposure of the victim’s alleged shortcomings, unless certain conditions were met.
However, on August 28 of this year, the two brothers, represented by lawyer Tafadzwa Muvhami from Muvhami Attorneys, appealed the magistrate’s decision to the High Court.
The defense argued that the State’s witnesses provided inconsistent testimonies, and the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to secure a conviction. Part of the submissions filed at the High Court read,
“The court a quo erred and misdirected itself when it held that the state had managed to prove the essential elements of the offence charged when there was no evidence on the record to show that accused persons exerted pressure and received money from the complainant.
“The court a quo erred and misdirected itself when it convicted the accused when there were inconsistencies in the state witnesses’ testimony as to the identity of the accused persons.
“The court a quo erred and misdirected itself when it rested the onus of proof on the accused to convince the court beyond reasonable doubt that they did not commit the offence when it is the duty of the State.
“The court a quo erred and misdirected itself when it held that the testimony of the second state witness remained unshaken when he made inconsistent statements as to who had sent him to make payment.”
Justice Zhou and Justice Chikowero determined that insufficient evidence presented in the lower court did not support the Magistrates Court’s guilty verdict.
The two appellants were falsely accused of extortion, while direct evidence implicated their co-accused in pressuring the complainant for a US$205 payment.
“Appeal in respect of both appellants is allowed. Conviction and sentence quashed. The appellants ought to have been acquitted,” read the order from the High Court.
