The Supreme Court denied the National Prosecuting Authority’s appeal against a lower court’s decision ordering it to release former Gokwe Nembudziya lawmaker Justice Mayor Wadyajena’s fleet of vehicles.
The High Court’s ruling ordering ZACC to release the businessman-cum-legislator’s fleet, which includes 25 trucks and a Lamborghini, was challenged by the NPA in an appeal to the highest court in the land.
The vehicles had been seized when Wadyajena was on a criminal trial in which he was accused of buying them using proceeds from criminal activities.
Wadyajena was however removed from remand before the High Court ruled that the continued seizure of his vehicles was unlawful.
On Monday, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Antonio Guvava, Nicholas Mathonsi and Alphas Chitakunye trashed NPA’s appeal and ruled that there was no need to depart from the High court’s decision.
“The outcome was that the Supreme Court ruled on the appeal by the NPA, which was contesting the High Court order for NPA and Zacc to release the property that was seized by Zacc and the NPA from Mayor Logistics.
“When they brought the matter to the Supreme Court, they wanted the Supreme Court to rule that what the High Court had done was wrong, but the Supreme Court agreed with us that they had no mandate in keeping that property because the High Court Judgment by justice Kwenda was clear that they had 30 days within which to keep that property, but they exceeded two years.
“There has been no end in sight for the intended prosecution of our clients. Our clients have always maintained that they were innocent, that those properties were theirs, they were legitimately acquired.
“If ZACC had anything, surely in three years they would have found something,” Wadyajena’s lawyer Oliver Marwa said in an interview.
Wadyajena was arrested together with Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco) executives, accused of US$5,8 million fraud.
It was alleged then that he had acquired 25 trucks using money corruptly acquired from Cottco.
The money was sent to a United States firm allegedly under the guise of purchasing bale ties for ginning worth over US$1 million.
He was jointly charged with Pious Manamike, Maxmore Njanji and Fortunate Molai as well as Mayor Logistics and Pierpont Moncroix on three counts of fraud and money laundering with a cumulative value of US$5 834 000.
