Mayor Mafume to appear in court tomorrow

By Daniel Kachere

Harare mayor councillor Jacob Mafume will appear in court tomorrow on fresh charges after being arrested yesterday by members of the Police Anti-Corruption Unit (PACU).
His lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara told Nhau that his client will be taken to court Wednesday morning as police were still finalising his charges.
Police national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi was, by the time of publication, still mum on the preferred charges against Mafume.
However, unconfirmed reports say the mayor was arrested for trying to bribe the chief witness in his criminal abuse of office case, while part of his bail conditions restrict him from interfering with witnesses.
Mafume was arrested just after his routine remand at Harare Magistrates Court.
He is currently on Z$30 000 bail facing charges of criminal abuse of office involving allocation of stands in Harare’s Westlea area without following due process.
Last week High Court judge Justice Benjamin Chikowero granted him bail, ending his 14-day incarceration.
He was ordered not to interfere with any witnesses, surrender his passport to the clerk of court and continue residing at his place of residence until the matter is finalised.
In denying him bail at the Harare Magistrates Court, Deputy Chief Magistrate Bianca Makwande ruled that police were yet to complete investigations into the matter.
She stated that the court also considered his ties to his workplace where he was likely to interfere with witnesses and conceal evidence.
“Mafume facilitated for his sister and workmate to get stands without being on the housing waiting list while many have spent years on the list without being allocated stands,” she said.
Scores of councillors and council officials have been arrested this year alone in what has been described as a deliberate and targeted operation against opposition officials running various Zimbabwean urban councils. Nhau/Indaba