A STATE witness in the ongoing trial of Mabvuku-Tafara legislator, James Maridadi (MDC-T), who is being charged with unauthorised borrowing or use of National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) property, yesterday insisted the parliamentarian was wrong as he failed to bring his suspicions to the attention of NRZ authorities.
BY PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
Maridadi is denying charges he took away an NRZ parking ticket book last month after refusing to pay parking fees, arguing he reasonably suspected that Zivanai Muzokomba was illegally collecting parking fees using the book.
NRZ commercial assistant, Amos Tembo, who chose not to answer the defence lawyer’s questions, declined to read section 3 of Statutory Instrument 104 of 2005 on Harare City Clamping and Tow-Away By-laws as requested by Maridadi’s lawyer, Auxilia Mangwaira.
“Maridadi, as a learned man, should have sought help from NRZ authorities if he doubted the authenticity of the parking marshal or should have simply gone to report at the police station, which is less than two minutes away from NRZ premises,” Tembo said.
After being asked to read the section, he said: “I should start from Section 1, not 3, as ordered by the lawyer, because she wants me to read only that which is favourable to her.”
After being warned by the court that that he should do what he had been asked, Tembo then changed and said he could not read the photocopied copy of the regulations.
“I will read if she gives me a legible copy, as some of the words on this copy are written in ink and I don’t believe this is the exact copy of the regulations,” he said.
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The lawyer was then forced to shelve her questions, saying she would bring another copy for the witness to read today.
According to the by-laws, the section demarcates the boundaries of the area within the city, where the local authority has exclusive rights to charge motorists for parking.
At some point, Tembo left the gallery in stitches when he responded to the lawyer’s questions, deliberately repeating himself in his answers. “I am repeating because I noticed you being lost or not understanding the answers I am giving you,” he said.
Meanwhile, magistrate Francis Mapfumo said he would, today, deliver his ruling on the defence’s application to have the “spy witness” incarcerated for refusing to answer questions under cross-examination in the on-going trial of jailed cleric, Robert Martin Gumbura and eight others, for attempted jailbreak at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in March this year.
