The recusal of Justice Esther Muremba has caused a delay in businessman Neville Mutsvangwa’s High Court appeal to overturn a Harare magistrate’s rejection to grant him bail.
Citing personal reasons, Justice Esther Muremba resigned from the case on Monday, the day she was scheduled to render her decision. The matter has now been returned to the High Court Registrar so that a different judge can hear it.
Attorney Josephine Sande, who represents Mutsvangwa, stated that she is presently awaiting word from the court registrar regarding when the bail hearing will take place. “The matter is currently with the court registrar for re-allocation to another judge,” she declared. We are now awaiting the hearing notification. We are unsure, though, if the recently appointed judge would consider new arguments or issue a decision. It’s still unclear.
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Three counts of unlawful foreign exchange transactions and one count of illegally holding a Starlink router are brought against Mutsvangwa. Mr. Dennis Mangosi, a magistrate in Harare, denied him bail and remanded him and his two suspected collaborators in detention until tomorrow.
Mutsvangwa applied for bail pending trial in the High Court through his attorney because he was unhappy with the magistrate’s ruling. They said that there was insufficient evidence presented by the prosecution against him and his co-accused, Simbarashe Tichingana and Elias Majachani.
Ms. Sande argued that the remand magistrate erred in refusing bail, pointing out that the evidence presented by the prosecution—which included Visa cards taken from Mutsvangwa’s Mount Pleasant residence—did not establish any connection to money laundering or illicit cash transactions.
Given the extensive evidence that the police had discovered indicating Mutsvangwa’s company, Mumba Money Transfer, was functioning as an unregistered organisation dealing in foreign cash, Magistrate Mangosi rejected bail on the grounds that the accused might abscond.
