Harare regional magistrate Estere Chivasa yesterday dismissed former Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya’s application for exception to the charges arising from unsanctioned matches that involved the national soccer team.
But the magistrate fell short of setting Rushwaya free after conceding the failure by the State to name a complainant weakened the case. “It seems she financed all the trips by herself and the court wonders who she deceived as her principal,” Chivasa said.
“The State should amend the facts and mention the name of the complainant,” she said before remanding the matter to September 12 for trial.
Rushwaya is accused of failing to disclose to Zifa financial transactions that involved the matches the Warriors played in Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Malaysia, Bulgaria, China and Thailand.
Rushwaya had argued that the facts and the charges against her did not disclose an offence and wanted to be acquitted.
Her boss was former Zifa president Wellington Nyatanga, but he is not mentioned as the complainant. Rushwaya also argued, through her lawyer Jonathan Samukange, that the matter was not criminal, but could be a case of misconduct. She has pleaded not guilty to all the nine counts she is facing.
