Mafume to spend festive season behind bars

By Daniel Kachere

Harare mayor councillor Jacob Mafume is likely to spend Christmas and New Year behind bars after Harare regional magistrate Ngoni Nduna denied him bail on allegations of contempt of court.
Nduna ruled that there was no other condition that the court could impose to stop Mafume from interfering with witnesses, as he allegedly did, except imprisonment.
Mafume was remanded in custody to 28 January 2021 for routine remand.
In his ruling Nduna said that the court was worried by the breach of bail conditions after Mafume was arrested at the same place where Dzehonye, a witness in his criminal abuse of office case, was.
He stated that their meeting with Dzehonye showed that they were discussing issues to do with the matter before the courts though it is disputed whether Mafume was actually in the car or not at the time of arrest.
“His conduct shows that no condition is going to stop accused from interfering with witnesses. He is currently on bail with conditions not to interfere with witnesses but interacted with them,” Nduna said.
Recently, the mayor spent two weeks behind bars after allegedly influencing the issuance of stands to his sister and a workmate without following due process.
The State led by Constance Ngombengombe told Harare regional magistrate Ngoni Nduna that on 12 December this year Mafume called Edgar Dzehonye via WhatsApp.
He requested that the two meet at Fife Avenue Shopping Centre the next day to discuss issues surrounding his case of criminal abuse of office pending before the courts.
Mafume called Dzehonye the following day changing the rendezvous to Mega 2 situated at Leisure Centre in Hatfield but when they got there, the venue was changed to Avondale Shopping Centre.
While at Avondale Shopping Centre, Mafume allegedly offered Dzehonye US$1 500 to swing his testimony in his favour.
He reportedly told Dzehonye that he had approached Addmore Nhekairo, another witness in the case, who had agreed to testify in his favour after apologising for being pressured to nail him as a witness.
After the meeting, the two parted, but Mafume called Dzehonye again the following day setting up another meeting at Strathaven Shopping Centre where he reportedly offered him US$1000 with the balance being paid later.
During discussions in Dzehonye’s car, police who had been tipped off, pounced on Mafume and effected an arrest. Nhau/Indaba