BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE A HARARE magistrate yesterday said former Labour minister Petronella Kagonye has a case to answer on fraud charges after dismissing her application for discharge at the close of the State case.
Kagonye was recently acquitted on two of the three counts of fraud where she was accused of taking 20 computers from Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) to her constituency.
In acquitting Kagonye on the other counts, magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti-Guwuriro said the State had failed to prove a prima facie case against her.
But the magistrate said she should be put to her defence on a charge of taking Potraz computers.
The magistrate postponed the matter to April 19.
It is alleged that between June 2018 and July 2019, Kagonye wrote to then Information, Communication Technology and Courier Services minister Supa Mandiwanzira requesting computers to donate to schools in Goromonzi South constituency.
Potraz donated the computers to Kagonye which were allegedly collected by her brother Evans.
Potraz made a follow-up on the donation with Kagonye’s brother and constituency officer but could not locate the computers, leading to her arrest.
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