VIVA Zimbabwe leader William “Ace Lumumba” Mutumanje, who is facing charges of insulting President Robert Mugabe during the launch of his political party last year, will have to wait a little bit longer for the State to fulfil its undertaking to withdraw the criminal charges against him after his matter was postponed to July 24 this year.
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE
Mutumanje was supposed to have been let off the hook by the State on Monday, but the National Prosecuting Authority had a sudden change of heart and decided to proceed with the criminal trial despite giving an undertaking at the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) to let Mutumanje go.
Yesterday, Mutumanje’s lawyer David Hofisi applied for the postponement of the matter saying the ConCourt officials had asked for more time to complete transcribing the whole record of proceedings.
Previously, Harare magistrate Nomsa Sabarauta had postponed the matter and ordered Hofisi to bring a copy of the order so as to enable the court to make an informed decision.
Hofisi also put the State on notice that on the next remand date he would apply to have the matter referred back to the ConCourt to determine whether there could be a fair trial after his client was ambushed by the State.
“I seek the postponement for the matter pending the said transcript. I also put the State on notice to refer our case to the ConCourt because of the current circumstances,” Hofisi said.
“That referral is based on fair trial rights in terms of section 69 of the Constitution. It is important because fair trial rights are not subject to limitations and the question will be whether there can be a fair trial when accused (Mutumanje) is ambushed the way he has been in this current matter.”
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Mutumanje’s application came about after the Prosecutor-General’s Office yesterday reneged on its recent ConCourt undertaking to have charges against Mutumanje withdrawn before plea.
Instead, the State sought to outsmart him by allocating him a new trial date.
Last month, Mutumanje withdrew his constitutional challenge with the State’s consent after prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba had promised not to pursue the criminal charges against him.
On Monday, the State was expected to formally withdraw the charges, but Mutumanje was surprised when the prosecutor applied to have the matter postponed to July 18 for a possible trial date.
