HARARE Provincial Magistrate Tendai Mahwe yesterday set next Thursday as the judgment date for MDC-T chief elections agent Morgan Komichi, who has been on a three-month trial for alleged fraud and contravening the Electoral Act prior to the July 31 harmonised elections.
CHARLES LAITON,SENIOR COURT REPORTER
The judgment date was set after Komichi’s lawyer Aleck Muchadehama withdrew his intention to call a defence witness in the matter.
“I have received instructions from the accused (Komichi) that the only point that we would have wanted to call the witness was to confirm the existence of one Michael Phiri, but the accused says so far from what is on record, he would be able to argue that Phiri exists,” Muchadehama said.
“To this end, therefore, accused has no more defence witnesses to call and is closing his defence case.”
However, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) representative Michael Mugabe made an application to submit written submissions in support of his case by Tuesday next week, while Muchadehama said he would file his response on Wednesday paving the way for judgment on the next day.
Allegations against Komichi are that on July 25 at the Harare International Conference Centre, he approached the commission asking to have an audience with Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) chairperson Justice Rita Makarau after a ballot envelope was allegedly found in a rubbish bin outside the command center.
The State alleges that Komichi accused Zec of destroying ballot papers of members of the uniformed forces who voted in favour of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Since the beginning of the trial, the court heard that the recovered envelop which Komichi allegedly picked up belonged to Constable Mugove Chiginya, a police officer supposed to have voted in the Southerton constituency.
The court heard that Chiginya, however, failed to vote during the special voting period after his special vote papers could not be located.
On July 28, Komichi was arrested by the police at his Bluff Hill home in connection with the retrieved ballot paper.
