FORMER Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) officials accused fixing Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers between Swaziland and Zimbabwe early this year, yesterday challenged further remand arguing that they were improperly charged.
BY MARY TARUVINGA
The trio includes former Zifa chief executive officer Henrietta Rushwaya, ex-Zifa executive committee member Edzai Kasinauyo and former Warriors assistant coach Nation Dube.
They are accused of having connived with former Warriors coach Ian Gorowa to bribe players into losing the match.
The three were represented by their lawyers Harrison Nkomo, Simon Mupindu and Simon Simango.
Nkomo, who is representing Rushwaya, said there was no complainant in this case, also adding that the State never mentioned that the accused passed bribes to the selected list of players.
“The police jumped the gun; bribery is a two-way act. They should have waited for exchange of money and arrest the accused. The outline does not mention this transpired, so we pray the accused be removed from remand,” he said.
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Nkomo also told court that his clients were denying all charges and facts relied upon by the State.
Dube’s attorney, Simango, said there was no complainant in this case considering that Zifa was a dissolved board. Simango added that the State was leaving out the real culprits who were working night and day to ensure the accused go to jail to cover for their corrupt activities.
“If the accused are acquitted and are going to press counter charges, who are they going to sue when an association is the complainant in this case? What if the association is dissolved?” he said.
“It is the court’s duty to expose the criminals who are hiding behind fingers and getting innocent people arrested. I don’t think the State will be able to sustain its charges which are just malicious,” Simango further argued.
The lawyers also said the three had been deprived of their rights since their arrest in April this year.
They said they had suffered stigma and psychological stress ever since.
Magistrate Tendai Mahwe is expected to give his ruling on the application today.
According to the State, the three also connived with the players’ close friend Leeroy Kundishora Waguta, who has turned out to be a whistleblower, as well as Chan Sankaran, a well-known Asian match-fixer, who is alleged to be the financier in this case.
The court heard that in February this year the accused in one of their routine meetings agreed to fix Afcon qualifiers between Swaziland and Zimbabwe which were scheduled for March 25 and 28 in Mbabane and Harare respectively.
They then targeted and agreed to offer bribes to Zimbabwe national soccer team players as an inducement to lose the games.
The court heard they agreed to implement their plan after the announcement of the list of players who were going to play against Swaziland.
As a result, the court heard, Kasinauyo was tasked to pressure Kalisto Pasuwa, the coach, to prematurely announce the list.
In the event that this did not happen, Dube was supposed to leak the list to the syndicate.
Their targets were a goalkeeper and two defenders, according to prosecutors.
However, Waguta betrayed the syndicate and informed the coach of the alleged plot.
Pasuwa delayed the announcement and later identified Tatenda Mukuruva as a probable goalkeeper.
The court heard that after this, Gorowa then phoned Mukuruva inviting him to South Africa in a bid to lure him into the illicit plot. Mukuruva and Waguta informed Pasuwa of the call at once.
As the pressure mounted, Pasuwa then informed Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa.
