MDC99 leader and former MDC-T St Mary’s MP, Job Sikhala, yesterday walked out of the Harare Magistrates’ Court a free man following his acquittal on charges of assisting a South African citizen to enter the country without a passport.
Harare magistrate Anita Tshuma acquitted the former MP saying the State had failed to prove a prima facie case against him.
Sikhala (40) was arrested early this year after being accused of having assisted Sharon Theresa Bester to enter the country illegally and accommodating her at his Chitungwiza house without the requisite immigration documents.
Sikhala was charged with contravening Section 36(1) (C) of the Immigration Act, but he made an application for discharge at the close of the State’s case when his trial started last month.
In his defence, Sikhala denied ever being involved in facilitating Bester’s entry into the country.
Bester was arrested by police in Harare in January this year after she failed to produce a residence permit.
She appeared before the same magistrate early this year and was fined $100 after she pleaded guilty to contravening Section 29 (1) (a) of the Immigration Act which criminalises staying in Zimbabwe without a valid permit.
