BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA
HARARE mayor Jacob Mafume was yesterday granted $40 000 bail when he appeared before High Court judge Justice Benjamin Chikowero on allegations of attempting to bribe a key witness in another pending matter for which he had been granted bail.
He was ordered to reside at his given address, report to the police every Friday and not to interfere with State witnesses.
Mafume spent weeks behind bars after his arrest on December 15, 2020 with the State alleging that he violated his bail conditions and contacted Edgar Dzehonye, a key witness in the matter, through a WhatsApp voice call, requesting him to meet him and discuss his criminal case before the courts.
He had been released on $30 000 bail at the High Court for illegally parcelling out land a few days before he was arrested on fresh charges of obstructing or defeating the course of justice.
Harare magistrate Ngoni Nduna had previously recused himself from presiding over Mafume’s corruption case, further delaying the city father’s bail hearing.
This came as the State indicated that it would seek a court order to revoke the $30 000 bail recently granted to Mafume. The State argues that the mayor violated his bail conditions by interfering with witnesses.
It is alleged that Mafume violated his bail conditions and offered to pay US$1 500 to Dzehonye so that he testifies in his favour in court.
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He was caught by the police at Strathaven Shopping Centre while in the middle of the discussion.
But Mafume, through his lawyers Advocate Thabani Mpofu and Tonderai Bhatasara, said the cell number which police allege he used to call Dzehonye was actually not his, but belonged to one Dumba who was in Dzehonye’s car when the police arrested him.
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